Neurological disorders in pregnancy from a neuroimaging perspective

Pregnancy can precipitate new neurological diseases as a result of the alterations in physiology that accompany the pregnant state. The pregnant patient presenting with neurological problems poses both diagnostic and therapeutic challenges, often forcing the clinician to rely on neuroimaging as part of the workup. This review discusses potential risks to the embryo and fetus posed by computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the imaging studies most often used to study the central nervous system. Imaging features of a variety of neurological conditions associated with pregnancy are discussed, including pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, Wernicke's encephalopathy, cerebral venous thrombosis, ischemic stroke, postpartum angiopathy, and lymphocytic hypophysitis.