Chinese Journal Of Clinical Anatomy ›› 2018, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (5): 495-499.doi: 10.13418/j.issn.1001-165x.2018.05.004

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MRI study of growth and development of fetal cerebellum in the second and third trimester of pregnancy and its relationship with simple posterior fossa pool broadening

LI Guan1, XIAO Lian-xiang2, JIAN Nan2, ZHAO Hui2, TIAN Mi-mi2, ZHANG Shuai2, LIN Xiang-tao2   

  1. 1.Taishan Medical University, Tan'an  271000, China;  2.Shandong Medical Imaging Research Institute, Shandong University, Jinan 250021,China
  • Received:2018-08-10 Online:2018-09-25 Published:2018-10-26

Abstract:

Objective To measure the transverse diameter and volume of normal fetal cerebellum by MRI, study its developmental rule with gestational age, and explore its clinical value in the diagnosis of simple posterior fossa pool broadening. Methods This study was a prospective study, involving 139 fetuses with normal brains ranging in age from 24 to 38 gestational weeks, fetal brain was performed 1.5T MRI , then we measured the cerebellum transverse diameter (TCD) and volume (CV) by a three-dimensional post-processing workstation (OsiriX software), and analyszed its developmental rule with gestational age; In addition, 45 cases of prenatal ultrasound and magnetic resonance diagnosis were included in the study. The fetus were divided into two groups according to gestational age (group I: 28~32 weeks, 20 cases; group II, 33~38 weeks, 25 cases), simultaneously according to the gestational age, the number of cases matched 45 normal fetus as a control group, quantitative analysis of fetal cerebellar development when the posterior fossa pool was widened.  Results  ①The fetal cerebellar transverse diameter was linearly positively correlated with gestational age. The linear equation was TCD=-1.746+0.182GA(R2=0.953,P<0.05), the fetal cerebellar volume was exponential-dependent with gestational age, and the curve equation was CV=0.072exp(0.151GA)(R2=0.957,P<0.05);②The analysis of the widened fetus in the posterior fossa pool compared with the normal fetus:In group I, there was no significant difference in the diameter and volume of fetal cerebellum between the study group and the control group(both P>0.05);In group II, there was no significant difference in the transverse diameter and volume of fetal cerebellum between the study group and the control group (both P>0.05). Conclusions The transverse diameter and volume of the normal fetal cerebellum increased linearly and exponentially with the gestational age in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. This result is helpful to evaluate the degree of fetal cerebellum development. There is no significant correlation between the fetal posterior fossa pool broadening and the cerebellar transverse diameter and volume. This helps to re-recognize the clinical significance of the posterior fossa pool broadening.

Key words: Magnetic resonance imaging,  Fetal,  Cerebellum, Volume,  Posterior cranial fossa