Visualisation of the fetal lip and palate : is brain-targeted MRI reliable?

• 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.  

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Radiologi och bildbehandling (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Fetal

MRI

Palate

Lip

Development

Radiology

Radiologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)