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(Radiology. 2000;215:205-210.)
© RSNA, 2000

Obstetric Imaging

Normal Fetal Brain Development: MR Imaging with a Half-Fourier Rapid Acquisition with Relaxation Enhancement Sequence1

Li Mei Lan, MD, Yasuyuki Yamashita, MD, Yi Tang, MD, Takeshi Sugahara, MD, Mutsumasa Takahashi, MD, Takashi Ohba, MD and Hitoshi Okamura, MD

1 From the Departments of Radiology (L.M.L., Y.Y., Y.T., T.S., M.T.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (T.O., H.O.), Kumamoto University School of Medicine, 1-1-1 Honjo, Kumamoto 860, Japan. Received October 19, 1998; revision requested December 7; final revision received August 9, 1999; accepted August 18. Address reprint requests to Y.Y. (e-mail: yama@kaiju.medic.kumamoto-u.ac.jp).

PURPOSE: To analyze normal maturation of the fetal brain with half-Fourier rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement (RARE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The normal brains of 25 fetuses of 12–38 weeks gestational age were examined in utero with half-Fourier RARE imaging. Gyrus maturation, gray and white matter differentiation, ventricle-to-brain diameter ratio, and subarachnoid space size were evaluated with respect to gestational age.

RESULTS: At 12–23 weeks, the brain had a smooth surface, and two or three layers were differentiated in the cerebral cortex. At 24–26 weeks, only a few shallow grooves were seen in the central sulcus, and three layers, including the immature cortex, intermediate zone, and germinal matrix, were differentiated in all fetuses. At 27–29 weeks, sulcus formation was observed in various regions of the brain parenchyma, and the germinal matrix became invisible. Sulcation was seen in the whole cerebral cortex from 30 weeks on. However, the cortex did not undergo infolding, and opercular formation was not seen before 33 weeks. At 23 weeks and earlier, the cerebral ventricles were large; thereafter, they gradually became smaller. The subarachnoid space overlying the cortical convexities was slightly dilated at all gestational ages, most markedly at 21–26 weeks.

CONCLUSION: Changes in brain maturation proceed through stages in an orderly and predictable fashion and can be evaluated reliably with half-Fourier RARE MR imaging.

Index terms: Fetus, central nervous system, 10.91, 856.121411, 856.121415, 856.121416 • Fetus, growth and development, 10.91, 856.121411, 856.121415, 856.121416 • Fetus, MR, 10.91, 856.121411, 856.121415, 856.121416




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