Utility of prenatal MRI in the evaluation and management of fetal ventriculomegaly.
OBJECTIVE: Fetal ventriculomegaly may occur in isolation or as part of a broader syndrome. We aimed to determine the added value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for informing the pre-natal and postnatal care of pregnancies complicated by ventriculomegaly (VM).
STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of all cases of prenatally diagnosed VM referred to the fetal center at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford 1/1/2009-6/1/2014 were reviewed. Ultrasound (US) and MRI findings were reviewed, and the added yield of MRI evaluated.
RESULTS: A total of 91 cases of fetal VM were identified and 74 (81%) underwent MRI. In 62/74 (84%) cases, additional CNS or non-CNS findings, not seen on US, were discovered on MRI, of which 58 were CNS-related. Forty-six (62%) of the additional findings were considered clinically relevant, of which 45 were CNS-related.
CONCLUSION: Fetal MRI identifies additional, clinically relevant CNS and non-CNS findings in a majority of cases of VM following initial US.
Katz JA, Chock VY, Davis AS, et al. "Utility of prenatal MRI in the evaluation and management of fetal ventriculomegaly." J Perinatol. 2018;38(11):1444-1452.PubMed