Visualisation of the fetal lip and palate: is brain-targeted MRI reliable?Show others and affiliations
2011 (English)In: Neurology, ISSN 0028-3878, E-ISSN 1526-632XArticle in journal (Other academic) Submitted
Abstract [en]
Introduction: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the ability of brain-targeted MRI to assess the anatomy of the fetal upper lip and palate.
Methods: Two independent readers made a blind retrospective review of 60 MRI of fetuses of 20 to 38 gestational weeks (GW). Fifty-five fetuses had normal post-natal follow-up. Five fetuses had oro-facial anomalies at post-natal follow-up, including five cleft lips (two bilateral, three unilateral), four cleft primary palates (two bilateral, two unilateral) and two cleft secondary palates.
The upper lip, primary palate, secondary palate and nasal septum were scored into four levels, from evidently normal to evidently abnormal. In case of a suspected pathology, the readers attempted a diagnosis.
Results: Interobserver agreement (weighted kappa) was 0.79 for the upper lip, 0.70 for the primary palate, 0.86 for the secondary palate, and 0.90 for the nasal septum. The scoring levels of the readers did not change significantly across gestational age.
The readers identified 100% of all pathological cases. The normality was correctly scored in 96-100% of the normal lips and primary palates and in 93-97% of the normal secondary palates depending on the reader. A deviated septum was only scored in two fetuses with unilateral cleft palates.
Conclusion: MRI in experienced hands seems reliable for assessment of the fetal lip and palate, even in brain-targeted examinations. Attention should therefore be paid to the lip and palate in all fetal MRI examinations, since unsuspected clefts may be revealed.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2011.
Keywords [en]
Fetal, MRI, Palate, Lip, Development
National Category
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging
Research subject
Radiology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-164681OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-164681DiVA, id: diva2:468991
Projects
MRI Studies of the Fetal Brain and Cranium2011-12-222011-12-222017-12-08Bibliographically approved