Magnetic Resonance Imaging Advantages

The benefit verses the effect of fetal Magnetic Resonance Imaging has been a controversial subject for years. Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a helpful tool for diagnosis of many diseases and abnormalities, but is it actually harmful to the fetus? Do the benefits of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging outweigh the risks? Ultrasound is the mostly commonly used imaging used in pregnancy, but in certain cases using fetal Magnetic Resonance Imaging in conjunction with ultrasound is very beneficial in planning and strategizing care for the fetus. Magnetic Resonance Imaging has been proven to help to better characterize mass, show location and extension of the lesion, and to show more detail in certain conditions. Using MRI can help to characterize a
It is not necessary in every pregnancy but, MRI should continue to be used in conjunction with ultrasound when necessary for diagnosis or progression of fetus development that cannot otherwise be seen. They have not proven that it causes any harmful effects to the fetus, but it has helped find many abnormalities of the spinal cord, brain, renal arteries, lungs, and many more body organs. Finding these abnormalities before the baby is born is beneficial to help know how serious the situation may be and to be making medical plans of what to do after birth. MRI provides a clearer image most successfully after the first trimester of pregnancy using low
MR imaging at 1.5 T or lower magnetic field strength has been used to evaluate diseases in pregnancy for over 20 years without any documented harmful effects. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been shown to be useful in the diagnosis of gynecological and obstetric problems during pregnancy and in the setting of acute abdomen during pregnancy. MRI overcomes some of the limitations of ultrasound, mainly the size of the gravid uterus. 4 MRI has even been proven to help in diagnosis of brain and spinal cord development of the fetus. MRI can delineate the development of the subcortical brain structures at the midtrimester of pregnancy and can obtain the normal measurements of these structures. It can provide certain help in evaluating fetal brain development in the uterus.5 As mentioned previously, MRI can help attain a clearer image than ultrasound in cases of oligohydramnios and also in obese mothers. Although it is the primary method of fetal imaging, it cannot provide sufficient information about the fetus in some conditions such as maternal obesity, oligohydramnios and engagement of the fetal head. At this stage, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facilitates examination by providing more specific information.6 MRI is also considered safe for the fetus because it does not require any type of maternal sedation. Fetal MRI was introduced in 1983, but the ultra-fast MRI sequences