Authorship：Lead author   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Wiley  

Abstract

Aim:  To evaluate the usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in predicting the risk of lethal pulmonary hypoplasia in fetuses.

Methods:  The subjects consisted of 15 fetuses (29–40 weeks' gestation), including fetuses with major malformation diagnosed on prenatal ultrasonography. MRI using a 1.5 T magnet and half‐Fourier acquisition single‐shot fast spin‐echo sequences were applied to all fetuses at 29–36 weeks. Fetal lung‐to‐liver signal intensity ratio (LLSIR) was calculated by medians of region‐of‐interest analysis; estimated fetal bodyweight (FBW), by ultrasonography; and estimated fetal lung volume (FLV), by planimetric measurement of total lung volume. FLV/FBW was also calculated. The presence of the pulmonary hypoplasia in neonates was identified based on clinical and anatomico‐pathological findings. Differences in LLSIR and FLV/FBW were analyzed for surviving and non‐surviving neonates.

Results:  Ten surviving neonates had a median LLSIR of 3.00, range: 1.60–4.40, while that in seven non‐surviving neonates was 2.21, range: 0.70–3.72; no significant difference was found between the groups. Surviving neonates had a median FLV/FBW of 11.4, range: 7.1–15.7, while that in non‐surviving neonates was 4.4, range: 3.1–5.7. FLV/FBW in non‐surviving neonates was significantly lower than that of the FLV/FBW for surviving fetuses (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:  Low FLV/FBW may be useful in prenatally predicting mortality in fetuses with pulmonary hypoplasia.

DOI： 10.1111/j.1447-0756.2008.00754.x

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