Prenatal cerebral magnetic resonance imaging.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Fetal Medicine
• Developmental Biology

Background:

• Ultrasonography (USG) is the standard for fetal brain screening but has limitations in sensitivity and specificity for central nervous system (CNS) malformations.
• Fetal cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers enhanced resolution and fewer technical limitations, improving diagnostic capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To correlate fetal age with cortical maturation assessed by fetal MRI.
• To compare USG and MRI findings for CNS malformations.
• To analyze cortical maturation patterns in abnormal fetal brains.

Main Methods:

• Fifty pregnant women underwent both USG and fetal brain MRI.
• Included 15 normal pregnancies and 35 with suspected CNS malformations based on USG or clinical assessment.
• Evaluated gestational age by USG, cortical maturation (cortical age) by MRI, and presence of CNS abnormalities; statistical analyses included t-tests and correlation coefficients.

Main Results:

• In normal pregnancies, fetal age strongly correlated with MRI-estimated cortical age.
• MRI demonstrated higher sensitivity and specificity than USG for detecting a wide range of CNS pathologies in the abnormal group.
• Cortical age did not correlate with gestational age in abnormal fetuses, and estimation was not possible in severely malformed brains.

Conclusions:

• Fetal MRI provides detailed and reliable prenatal CNS evaluation, surpassing USG in accuracy and technical performance for most malformations.
• MRI accurately assesses cortical maturation in normal and mildly abnormal fetuses.
• USG remains the preferred method for diagnosing fetal skull bony defects.