Agreement between prenatal ultrasound and 3.0T magnetic resonance imaging in the assessment of anomalies of the central nervous system: A single‐center experience in Slovakia

Abstract

Objective To assess the concordance of in‐utero magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings at 3.0T in fetuses with suspect abnormalities of the central nervous system (CNS) on ultrasonography. Methods A retrospective study was done on 222 pregnant women indicated for fetal MRI, with the examination performed within 2 weeks from indication. The inclusion criteria for patients were age 18 years or older with the fetus at 18 weeks of gestation or more. Fetal CNS pathologies were divided into six categories: ventriculomegaly; supratentorial midline abnormalities (ACC); supratentorial space‐occupying lesions; abnormalities of the posterior fossa; destructive cerebral lesions; and cortical formation abnormalities (CFA). Chance‐adjusted agreement was assessed using unweighted Cohen’s kappa (κ). Results The best agreement between ultrasound and MRI was observed in ventriculomegaly (κ=0.817; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.76–0.88). There was only a moderate agreement in ACC (κ=0.483; 95% CI 0.35–0.61). CFA pathologies had a poor agreement between the modalities (κ=0.140; 95% CI −0.03 to 0.31). Conclusion Ultrasonography has good overall agreement with MRI in diagnosing fetal CNS anomalies. CFA had the most disagreement between ultrasound and MRI. The prognostic implication of these findings can be used for parental neuro‐counseling but should be investigated further.