Acquired fetal brain lesions

Abstract

During the last decade, increasing interest in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has emerged for the evaluation of fetal abnormalities detected on ultrasound. The advent of single-shot rapid acquisition sequences has greatly facilitated the ability to obtain detailed imaging information of the fetal brain. To date, fetal MRI has shown to have an important role in the investigation of cerebral abnormalities suspected by sonography, and in the detection of subtle brain anomalies associated with high-risk pregnancies. MRI has proved to be a useful adjunct to sonography during the prenatal period of development, especially for the detection of acquired disorders. Acquired fetal brain disorders include fetal hypoxia, congenital infections (especially toxoplasmosis and cytomegalovirus infections), brain injury due to malformations, pregnancies at risk of fetal brain damage, inherited metabolic diseases, especially mitochondrial diseases, intrauterine growth retardation, and tumors. Acquired fetal brain disorders represent the third most frequent indication for fetal brain MRI following fetal ventricular dilatation and central nervous system malformations.