Value of MRI in measuring main diameter of fetal brain in normal middle and late pregnancy / 中国介入影像与治疗学

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the repeatability of measuring the main diameters of normal fetal head using 3.0T MRI and the correlation with gestational age (GA), also to establish a quantitative evaluation method of MRI for the development of normal fetal brain. Methods Totally 219 fetuses with normal anatomic brain structure confirmed by ultrasound were enrolled and underwent 3.0T MR scanning. Fetal brain biparietal diameter (BBD), brain fronto-occipital length (BFOL), skull biparietal diameter (SBD), skull fronto-occipitoal diameter (SFOD), head circumference (HC), length of the corpus callosum (LCC) and cerebellar transverse diameter (CTD) were measured by two radiologists. The repeatability of these two radiologists, and the correlation between the main diameters of fetal brain and gestational ages were analyzed. Results The main diameters of fetal brain measured by two observers were reproducible (all interclass correlation coefficient >0.7). BBD, BFOL, SBD, SFOD, HC, LCC and CTD had positive correlation with GA (r=0.957, 0.974, 0.949, 0.959, 0.971, 0.887, 0.985, all P<0.001). Conclusion 3.0T MR has good reproducibility in measurement of the main diameters of fetal brain in normal middle and late pregnancy. There are quadratic polynomial functional relationships of the parameters of fetal brain biometry with GA.