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Imaging the premature brain: ultrasound or MRI?

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Abstract

Neuroimaging of preterm infants has become part of routine clinical care, but the question is often raised on how often cranial ultrasound should be done and whether every high risk preterm infant should at least have one MRI during the neonatal period. An increasing number of centres perform an MRI either at discharge or around term equivalent age, and a few centres have access to a magnet in or adjacent to the neonatal intensive care unit and are doing sequential MRIs. In this review, we try to discuss when best to perform these two neuroimaging techniques and the additional information each technique may provide.

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We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children’s Hospital, UMC Utrecht, PO Box 85090, 3508 AB, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Linda S. de Vries, Manon J. N. L. Benders & Floris Groenendaal

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  1. Linda S. de Vries
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  2. Manon J. N. L. Benders
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  3. Floris Groenendaal
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Correspondence to Linda S. de Vries.

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This article is part of the special supplement “The Premature Brain”—Guest Editor: Charles Raybaud

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de Vries, L.S., Benders, M.J.N.L. & Groenendaal, F. Imaging the premature brain: ultrasound or MRI?. Neuroradiology 55 (Suppl 2), 13–22 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-013-1233-y

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