title: Magnetic resonance imaging of abdominal pain during pregnancy.
abstract: The objective of this review is to demonstrate magnetic resonance imaging as an important adjunct to ultrasound and computed tomography in the evaluation of the pregnant patient with abdominal pain. With the advent of ultrafast T2-weighted pulse sequences, fetal and bowel motion cause minimal artifact on the images. An accurate diagnosis can often be made in a few minutes based on these high-contrast images performed in 2 or 3 planes. T1-weighted gradient echo images with and without fat saturation are useful for identifying blood and fat, especially in the case of adnexal masses. Gadolinium-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid is rarely used to diagnose inflammatory or obstructive disease and is reserved for those patients with suspected malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. Julia_fielding@med.unc.edu
authors.forename: Julia R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Fielding
authors.forename: Brian M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Chin
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D007674:Kidney Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D014591:Uterine Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*