• E H Whitby, S Variend, S Rutter, M N J Paley, I D Wilkinson, N P Davies, C Sparey, and P D Griffiths.
• Section of Academic Radiology, Department of MRI, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. e.whitby@sheffield.ac.uk
• Clin Radiol. 2004 Dec 1; 59 (12): 1114-20.

AimsTo corroborate the findings of in utero magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with autopsy and post-mortem MRI in cases of known or suspected central nervous system (CNS) abnormalities on ultrasound and to compare the diagnostic accuracy of ante-natal ultrasound and in utero MRI.MethodsTwelve pregnant women, whose foetuses had suspected central nervous system abnormalities underwent in utero MRI. The foetuses were imaged using MRi before autopsy. The data were used to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of in utero MRI when compared with a reference standard of autopsy and post-mortem MRI in 10 cases and post-mortem MRI alone in two cases.ResultsThe diagnostic accuracy of antenatal ultrasound and in utero MRI in correctly characterizing brain and spine abnormalities were 42 and 100%, respectively.ConclusionIn utero MRI provides a useful adjuvant to antenatal ultrasound when assessing CNS abnormalities by providing more accurate anatomical information. Post-mortem MRI assists the diagnosis of macroscopic structural abnormalities.

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