Diffusion-weighted imaging of the cerebellum in the fetus with Chiari II malformation

Diffusion-weighted imaging can be used to characterize brain maturation. MR imaging of the fetus is used in cases of suspected Chiari II malformation when further evaluation of the posterior fossa is required. We sought to investigate whether there were any quantitative ADC abnormalities of the cere...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	American journal of neuroradiology : AJNR Vol. 34; no. 8; pp. 1656 - 1660
Main Authors:	Mignone Philpott, C, Shannon, P, Chitayat, D, Ryan, G, Raybaud, C A, Blaser, S I
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States American Society of Neuroradiology 01-08-2013
Subjects:	Arnold-Chiari Malformation - embryology Arnold-Chiari Malformation - pathology Cerebellum - abnormalities Cerebellum - embryology Cerebellum - pathology Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods Female Humans Male Pediatrics Prenatal Diagnosis - methods Reproducibility of Results Sensitivity and Specificity
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Diffusion-weighted imaging can be used to characterize brain maturation. MR imaging of the fetus is used in cases of suspected Chiari II malformation when further evaluation of the posterior fossa is required. We sought to investigate whether there were any quantitative ADC abnormalities of the cerebellum in fetuses with this malformation. Measurements from ROIs acquired in each cerebellar hemisphere and the pons were obtained from calculated ADC maps performed on our Avanto 1.5T imaging system. Values in groups of patients with Chiari II malformations were compared with those from fetuses with structurally normal brains, allowing for the dependent variable of GA by using linear regression analysis. There were 8 fetuses with Chiari II malformations and 23 healthy fetuses, ranging from 20 to 31 GW. There was a significant linear decline in the cerebellar ADC values with advancing gestation in our healthy fetus group, as expected. The ADC values of the cerebellum of fetuses with Chiari II malformation were higher [1820 (±100) × 10⁻⁶ mm²/s] than ADC values in the healthy fetuses (1370 ± 70) × 10⁻⁶ mm²/s. This was statistically significant, even when allowing for the dependent variable of GA (P = .0126). There was no significant difference between the pons ADC values in these groups (P = .645). While abnormal white matter organization or early cerebellar degeneration could potentially contribute to our findings, the most plausible explanation pertains to abnormalities of CSF drainage in the posterior fossa, with increased extracellular water possibly accounting for this phenomenon.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-2 ObjectType-Feature-1
ISSN:	0195-6108 1936-959X
DOI:	10.3174/ajnr.A3468