Published online Aug 28, 2014. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v6.i8.523
Revised: April 24, 2014
Accepted: June 10, 2014
Published online: August 28, 2014
Application of modern magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to the live fetus in utero is a relatively recent endeavor. The relative advantages and disadvantages of clinical MRI relative to the widely used and accepted ultrasonographic approach are the subject of a continuing debate; however the focus of this review is on the even younger field of quantitative MRI as applied to non-invasive studies of fetal brain development. The techniques covered under this header include structural MRI when followed by quantitative (e.g., volumetric) analysis, as well as quantitative analyses of diffusion weighted imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional MRI. The majority of the published work reviewed here reflects information gathered from normal fetuses scanned during the 3rd trimester, with relatively smaller number of studies of pathological samples including common congenital pathologies such as ventriculomegaly and viral infection.
Core tip: This review focuses on the budding field of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging and studies of the fetal brain designed to establish normative databases relevant to regional brain growth, connectivity and function and their application to a deeper understanding of the etiology, diagnosis and prognosis of fetal brain pathologies.