The current state and future of fetal imaging

Fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may add important diagnostic information to prenatal sonography and has the power to confirm or change decisions at critical points in clinical care. Recent studies have shown MRI to be a critical clinical adjunct in the evaluation of the developing central nervous system (CNS), especially at early gestational ages, and MRI has been used in three significant ways: (1) for the quantification of brain growth and structural abnormalities using biometry, (2) for the qualitative evaluation of CNS microstructure, and (3) for the qualitative assessment of dynamic fetal movements in utero.