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Fetal magnetic resonance imaging can be a powerful adjunct to ultrasound in prenatal screening for suspected brain anomalies, according to a team of researchers from Egypt. Fetal magnetic resonance imaging can be a powerful adjunct to ultrasound in prenatal screening for suspected brain anomalies, according to a team of researchers from the Cairo University-Kasr Al Ainy Hospital, Egypt. Their findings were presented this Tuesday at the Radiological Society of North America's 2007 Annual Meeting in Chicago.

The study included 80 pregnant women in whom ultrasound (US) was suspicious of fetal brain anomaly or with history of previous pregnancies with brain malformations.

Fetal MRI detected 33 brain abnormalities in 18 fetuses and described 62 as normal. Diagnoses included: ventriculomegaly, Dandy Walker malformation, olivo-pontocerebellar hypoplasia, Chiari II malformation, schizencephaly, agenesis of corpus callosum, microcephaly, simplified gyration, cobblestone lissencephaly, Iniencephaly, Meckel-Gruber syndrome, Turner syndrome, Noonan syndrome, and non-classified malformations.

MRI:

• confirmed US diagnoses in 33 cases;
  
• made clear diagnoses in 26 cases with equivocal US studies that improved the confidence level in management decisions;
  
• provided additional findings not detected by US that influenced counseling in eight cases;
  
• correctly changed US diagnoses and management in 11 cases.

The researchers reported that fetal MRI was particularly valuable in screening for abnormalities of cerebral cortical development, posterior fossa, and corpus callosum.

"Fetal MRI is a powerful screening tool for fetal brain anomalies", said principal investigator Sahar Saleem, MD, PhD. "It provided a measure of confidence and additional information that confirmed or changed the prenatal ultrasound diagnoses of pregnancies with high risk for brain anomalies.