Fetal MRI in intracranial anomalies - preliminary experience

MRI technology enables images to be acquired in less than one second and provide multiplanar views that help physicians more accurately acquire a diagnosis and plan for prenatal surgery or design postnatal treatments. A fetal MRI is generally ordered after a suspected anomaly is spotted with ultrasound or if the mother is at risk for a condition that cannot be visualized well with sonography. Fetal MRI works particularly well in identifying ventriculomegaly, lesions within the posterior fossa, callosal anomalies and abnormalities in cerebral myelination, migration, and sulcation. It is also a strong problem-solving tool for finding suspected conditions such as diaphragmatic hernia, congenital cystic adenomatoid malformations, renal cystic lesions, and other complicated abdominal masses. In addition, a fetal MRI provides potentially critical information about the maternal abdomen and, in some cases, can reveal problems with the pregnant patient or indicate possible problems that may occur during pregnancy.