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AJNR - American Journal of Neuroradiology

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American Journal of Neuroradiology 24:799-804, May 2003
© 2003 American Society of Neuroradiology

PEDIATRICS

Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Determination in Normal Fetal Brain: A Prenatal MR Imaging Study

Andrea Righini^a, Elena Bianchini^a, Cecilia Parazzini^a, Patrizia Gementi^b, Luca Ramenghi^c, Cristina Baldoli^d, Umberto Nicolini^b, Fabio Mosca^c and Fabio Triulzi^a

^a Department of Neuroradiology, Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento, Milan, Italy
^b Department of Gynecology, Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento, Milan, Italy
^c Department of Neonatology, Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento, Milan, Italy
^d Department of Neuroradiology, Universita’ Salute e Vita - IRCCS San Raffaele, Milan, Italy

Address reprint requests to Andrea Righini, MD, Department of Neuroradiology, Ospedale dei Bambini V. Buzzi, Istituti Clinici di Perfezionamento, Via castelvetro 32, 20154 Milan, Italy

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Diffusion-weighted MR imaging studies of normal brain development have focused on premature babies who were free of focal lesions on conventional MR images. The condition of prematurity, however, is dissimilar to intrauterine life. We sought to establish normal values of fetal brain apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) to highlight its abnormal changes in pathologic conditions and to obtain information about normal brain development.

METHODS: We measured the ADC, in utero, by using an echo-planar three-axes diffusion-sensitized sequence (b factor, 0 and 600 s/mm²), in frontal and occipital white matter and basal ganglia gray matter of 15 fetuses. Their gestational ages ranged from 22 to 35 weeks, and the postnatal MR images or sonograms revealed normal brain.

RESULTS: Mean ADC value was 1.96 ± 0.1 µm²/ms (SD) in frontal white matter, 1.95 ± 0.1 µm²/ms in occipital white matter, and 1.56 ± 0.1 µm²/ms in basal ganglia. A significant negative correlation between ADC and gestational age was found for basal ganglia, whereas only a trend was present for frontal white matter.

CONCLUSION: Although moderately higher, the ADC determinations we obtained are consistent with those reported in the literature in postnatal studies performed in premature babies.

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