- Diagnostic Value of Prenatal MR Imaging in the Detection of Brain Malformations in Fetuses before the 26th Week of Gestational Age
The authors retrospectively evaluated 109 fetuses within 25 weeks of gestational age who had undergone both prenatal and postnatal MR imaging of the brain between 2002 and 2014, and using the postnatal MRI as the reference standard, they calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the prenatal MRI in detecting brain malformations. Prenatal MR imaging failed to detect correctly 11 of the 111 malformations. They conclude that diagnostic value of prenatal MRI for brain malformations within 25 weeks of GA is very high, despite limitations of sensitivity in the early detection of disorders of cortical development, such as polymicrogyria and periventricular nodular heterotopias.
- Brain Structural and Vascular Anatomy Is Altered in Offspring of Pre-Eclamptic Pregnancies: A Pilot Study
The authors assessed the brain structural and vascular anatomy in 7- to 10-year-old offspring of pre-eclamptic pregnancies compared with matched controls (n=10 per group). TOF-MRA and a high-resolution anatomic T1-weighted MPRAGE sequence were acquired for each participant. Offspring of pre-eclamptic pregnancies exhibited enlarged brain regional volumes of the cerebellum, temporal lobe, brain stem, and right and left amygdalae. These offspring displayed reduced cerebral vessel radii in the occipital and parietal lobes. The authors conclude that these structural and vascular anomalies may underlie the cognitive deficits reported in the pre-eclamptic offspring population.