title: Assessment of cortical maturation with prenatal MRI. Part I: Normal cortical maturation.
abstract: Cortical maturation, especially gyral formation, follows a temporospatial schedule and is a good marker of fetal maturation. Although ultrasonography is still the imaging method of choice to evaluate fetal anatomy, MRI has an increasingly important role in the detection of brain abnormalities, especially of cortical development. Knowledge of MRI techniques in utero with the advantages and disadvantages of some sequences is necessary, in order to try to optimize the different magnetic resonance sequences to be able to make an early diagnosis. The different steps of cortical maturation known from histology represent the background necessary for the understanding of maturation in order to be then able to evaluate brain maturation through neuroimaging. Illustrations of the normal cortical maturation are given for each step accessible to MRI for both the cerebral hemispheres and the posterior fossa.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Résonance Magnétique Biologique et Médicale, Faculté Timone, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fogliarini
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chaumoitre
authors.forename: Frédérique
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chapon
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lévrier
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Figarella-Branger
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Girard
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000196:embryology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000196:embryology*; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D011247:Pregnancy; D011296:Prenatal Diagnosis