Fetal cerebral magnetic resonance imaging, neurosonography and the brave new world of fetal medicine.

Abstract

Stuart Campbell was the first to use the metaphor of the parallel universes discussing the utilization of ultrasound in pregnancy.1 The controversy around the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) versus sonography to diagnose cerebral malformations is just another example in this regard. In one spatio-temporal continuum fetal neurosonography allows an accurate diagnosis of central nervous system anatomy2–5 and malformations 6–9 including complex lesions such as commissural anomalies 10, 11, posterior fossa malformations 12, 13, disruptions 14–16, and cortical anomalies17; it performs similarly to magnetic resonance in the second and third trimester18, 19; eventually, it allows a precise diagnosis of many malformations since the first trimester.20–22