Magnetic resonance imaging based quantitative analysis of placenta and fetal brain in small-for-gestational-age pregnancies: a feasibility study.

IF 2.3 3区医学 Q2 PEDIATRICS

Pediatric Radiology Pub Date : 2025-08-26 DOI:10.1007/s00247-025-06373-5

Bingqing Xia, Ling Jiang, Zhaoxia Qian, Feifei Qu, Jiangjie Wu, Hongjiang Wei, Taotao Sun

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) pregnancy is often associated with impaired placental function, which would lead to neurodevelopmental deficits.

Objective: To utilize the geometric properties of cortical development for quantitative analysis of the relationship between impaired placental function and fetal brain development in pregnancies with SGA fetuses.

Materials and methods: This retrospective study included 41 pregnant women with appropriate gestational age (GA) (range, 23-38.6 weeks) and 26 pregnant women with SGA pregnancies (range, 23.3-36.3 weeks). After the exclusion of 25 participants with normal fetal brain data but noticeable motor artifacts, 29 fetal brains from the normal group and 16 fetal brains from the SGA group were included in this analysis. Examinations were conducted using a 1.5-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system. Fetal brain cortical thickness and regional volume were calculated for each participant according to a standardized anatomical atlas. Placental intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) imaging and T2* mapping were performed. IVIM parameters (perfusion fraction (f), perfusion diffusivity coefficient (D*), and tissue diffusivity (D)) and T2* parameters were subsequently analyzed.

Results: T2* and f values were significantly lower in SGA pregnancies than in the control group (P < 0.05), indicating impaired placental growth. Nine regions of cortical thickness exhibited significant differences (P<0.05) between the normal and the SGA groups. In the control group, 30 of 86 brain regions (34.88%) exhibited moderate or strong correlations between cortical thickness and T2* values. Among these regions, 19 were in the right hemisphere, whereas 11 were in the left hemisphere.

Conclusion: Quantitative assessment of changes in placental function and fetal brain cortical thickness is feasible and may provide valuable pathophysiological insights. Cortical thickness variations may act as potential biomarkers, assisting clinicians in early identification of SGA fetuses at risk of neurodevelopmental challenges.

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小胎龄妊娠中基于磁共振成像的胎盘和胎脑定量分析：可行性研究。

背景：小胎龄妊娠通常与胎盘功能受损有关，这将导致神经发育缺陷。目的：利用皮质发育的几何特征定量分析SGA胎儿胎盘功能受损与胎儿脑发育的关系。材料和方法：本回顾性研究纳入41例适宜孕龄（GA）孕妇（范围23 ~ 38.6周）和26例适宜孕龄（SGA）孕妇（范围23.3 ~ 36.3周）。在排除了25名胎儿大脑数据正常但明显运动伪影的参与者后，正常组的29名胎儿大脑和SGA组的16名胎儿大脑被纳入本分析。采用1.5 t磁共振成像（MRI）系统进行检查。根据标准化解剖图谱计算每个参与者的胎儿脑皮质厚度和区域体积。进行胎盘体素内非相干运动（IVIM）成像和T2*成像。随后分析IVIM参数(灌注分数（f)、灌注扩散系数（D*）、组织扩散系数(D)）和T2*参数。结果：SGA妊娠组T2*和f值明显低于对照组(P)。结论：定量评估胎盘功能和胎儿脑皮质厚度的变化是可行的，并可能提供有价值的病理生理学见解。皮质厚度变化可能作为潜在的生物标志物，帮助临床医生早期识别有神经发育挑战风险的SGA胎儿。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Pediatric Radiology 医学-核医学

CiteScore

4.40

自引率

17.40%

发文量

300

审稿时长

3-6 weeks

期刊介绍： Official Journal of the European Society of Pediatric Radiology, the Society for Pediatric Radiology and the Asian and Oceanic Society for Pediatric Radiology Pediatric Radiology informs its readers of new findings and progress in all areas of pediatric imaging and in related fields. This is achieved by a blend of original papers, complemented by reviews that set out the present state of knowledge in a particular area of the specialty or summarize specific topics in which discussion has led to clear conclusions. Advances in technology, methodology, apparatus and auxiliary equipment are presented, and modifications of standard techniques are described. Manuscripts submitted for publication must contain a statement to the effect that all human studies have been reviewed by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in an appropriate version of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. It should also be stated clearly in the text that all persons gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study. Details that might disclose the identity of the subjects under study should be omitted.