Forebrain development in fetal MRI: evaluation of anatomical landmarks before gestational week 27

Introduction Forebrain malformations include some of the most severe developmental anomalies and require early diagnosis. The proof of normal or abnormal prosencephalic development may have an influence on further management in the event of a suspected fetal malformation. The purpose of this retrosp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroradiology 2010-06, Vol.52 (6), p.495-504
Main Authors: Schmook, Maria T., Brugger, Peter C., Weber, Michael, Kasprian, Gregor, Nemec, Stefan, Krampl-Bettelheim, Elisabeth, Prayer, Daniela
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brain
Female
Fetuses
Humans
Imaging
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Models, Anatomic
Neurology
Neuroradiology
Neurosciences
Neurosurgery
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Trimester, First
Pregnancy Trimester, Second
Prenatal development
Prenatal Diagnosis - methods
Prosencephalon - anatomy & histology
Prosencephalon - embryology
Prosencephalon - growth & development
Radiology
Topic Article
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Summary:Introduction Forebrain malformations include some of the most severe developmental anomalies and require early diagnosis. The proof of normal or abnormal prosencephalic development may have an influence on further management in the event of a suspected fetal malformation. The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the detectability of anatomical landmarks of forebrain development using in vivo fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before gestational week (gw) 27. Methods MRI studies of 83 singleton fetuses (gw 16-26, average ± sd: gw 22 ± 2) performed at 1.5 Tesla were assessed. T2-weighted (w) fast spin echo, T1w gradient-echo and diffusion-weighted sequences were screened for the detectability of anatomical landmarks as listed below. Results The interhemispheric fissure, ocular bulbs, corpus callosum, infundibulum, chiasm, septum pellucidum (SP), profile, and palate were detectable in 95%, 95%, 89%, 87%, 82%, 81%, 78%, 78% of cases. Olfactory tracts were more easily delineated than bulbs and sulci (37% versus 18% and 8%), with significantly higher detection rates in the coronal plane. The pituitary gland could be detected on T1w images in 60% with an increasing diameter with gestational age ( p  = 0.041). The delineation of olfactory tracts (coronal plane), chiasm, SP and pituitary gland were significantly increased after week 21 ( p  
ISSN:0028-3940
1432-1920
DOI:10.1007/s00234-010-0701-x