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Fetal MRI distressing for many women
Monday, 29 November 1999 19:00 | 
| Specialties - Obstetrics and Gynaecology |
Pregnant women who are advised to undergo fetal MRI often experience 'considerable distress' during the procedure, particularly those with poor fetal prognoses, according to a new study.
Pregnant women who are advised to undergo fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) often experience 'considerable distress' during the procedure, particularly those with poor fetal prognoses, according to research published in the February issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Dr. Katharina Leithner and colleagues from the Medical University of Vienna, assessed the psychological reactions of 62 women before and immediately after fetal MRI. They found that levels of anxiety before fetal MRI were a significantly higher - by 8.8 points -- than those reported in the "female nonclinical, norm population" (p < 0.001).
"Our findings suggest that women who undergo fetal MRI experience a marked psychological distress, despite the general high acceptance of this kind of investigation in our population," Dr. Leithner noted in an email to Reuters Health. "The severity of the referral diagnosis showed a linearly increasing effect on anxiety level before MRI."
Anxiety levels significantly decreased after the MRI, even though the women had yet to be informed of the results.
In terms of subjective experiences, the MRI examination was rated as unpleasant by 33.9 per cent of women and as hardly bearable by 4.8 per cent. "Thus, 59.7 per cent of our patients found MRI easy to tolerate, compared with 88 per cent in a non-pregnant sample," the authors note.
"Physical restraint, noise level, anxiety for the baby, and the duration of the examination were major distressing factors," Dr. Leithner added.
She and colleagues suggest that "preimaging information that includes detailed information about the course and duration of MRI, body position during the examination, noise, and the lack of negative effects on the fetus may be beneficial."
"Ongoing technical developments," they add, "such as a reduction of noise, shortening the duration of the MRI, and a more comfortable position in open MRI machines, may have the potential to improve the subjective experiences of women during fetal MRI.
Dr. Katharina Leithner and colleagues from the Medical University of Vienna, assessed the psychological reactions of 62 women before and immediately after fetal MRI. They found that levels of anxiety before fetal MRI were a significantly higher - by 8.8 points -- than those reported in the "female nonclinical, norm population" (p < 0.001).
"Our findings suggest that women who undergo fetal MRI experience a marked psychological distress, despite the general high acceptance of this kind of investigation in our population," Dr. Leithner noted in an email to Reuters Health. "The severity of the referral diagnosis showed a linearly increasing effect on anxiety level before MRI."
Anxiety levels significantly decreased after the MRI, even though the women had yet to be informed of the results.
In terms of subjective experiences, the MRI examination was rated as unpleasant by 33.9 per cent of women and as hardly bearable by 4.8 per cent. "Thus, 59.7 per cent of our patients found MRI easy to tolerate, compared with 88 per cent in a non-pregnant sample," the authors note.
"Physical restraint, noise level, anxiety for the baby, and the duration of the examination were major distressing factors," Dr. Leithner added.
She and colleagues suggest that "preimaging information that includes detailed information about the course and duration of MRI, body position during the examination, noise, and the lack of negative effects on the fetus may be beneficial."
"Ongoing technical developments," they add, "such as a reduction of noise, shortening the duration of the MRI, and a more comfortable position in open MRI machines, may have the potential to improve the subjective experiences of women during fetal MRI.
