Fetal magnetic resonance imaging of the central nervous system: a pictorial essay.
Prenatal ultrasonography is the primary screening modality for the evaluation of fetal pathology. Ultrafast fetal MRI is a recent development that examines the fetus in utero. The short acquisition times (as short as 400 ms/slice) allow to picture freeze the fetus without the need for fetal sedation. The high spatial resolution, good contrast-to-noise ratio, and the multiplanar capabilities are especially advantageous in pathologies of the fetal central nervous system (CNS). Fetal MRI currently serves as a second-line imaging tool for complex fetal cerebral malformations and pathologies. Fetal ventriculomegaly, lesions within the posterior fossa, and abnormalities in cerebral myelination, migration, and sulcation are particularly well identified.
Institute of Diagnostic Radiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. thierry@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu
Thierry A G M
TA
Huisman
Josef
J
Wisser
Ernst
E
Martin
Rahel
R
Kubik-Huch
Borut
B
Marincek
D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005315:Fetal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis