A retrospective cohort analysis on the contribution of fetal magnetic resonance imaging to the diagnosis and management of sonographically detected fetal abnormalities

INTRODUCTION: To evaluate the main indications of the fetal magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for the sonographically detected fetal abnormalities and to assess the contribution of this modality to the management of these cases. METHODS: This retrospective cohort analysis were based on the assesment of the fMRI recordings obtained from the archive of the Dokuz Eylul University Radiodiagnostics Department from between January 2007 and January 2018. The clinical indications, the main findings of the ultrasound examination and the decision of the ethical comitte were also gathered as the integral parameters of the study. RESULTS: A sample of 146 fMRI recordings were consisting of 127 (87%) cases of central or peripheral nervous system (CP-NS) abnormalities and 19 (13%) abnormality cases originated from other systems. The biggest 5 sub-groups in the CP-NS abnormalities category were ventriculomegaly (n: 34;26.7%), developmental disorders of the corpus callosum (n: 28; 22.0%), abnormalities of the posterior fossa (n: 14; 11.0%), open neural tube defects (n: 14; 11.0%) and the malformation of the cortical development (n: 7; %5.5). The median gestational age at the time of the sonographic diagnosis was 23 (18-35) weeks in the CP-NS group and 22 (18-28) weeks in the other systems group (p: 0.04). None of the fetal MRI cases was related to a fetal cardiac abnormality. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Confirmation of the diagnosis, archiving for medicolegal and academic purposes and seeking for additional findings seems to be the main reasons when resorting to the fMRI. The nervous system abnormalities were the predominant indication category and abnormalities originated from other sytems were very limited in number