Single-direction diffusion-weighted imaging may be a simple complementary sequence for evaluating fetal corpus callosum

Cong Sun; Xinjuan Zhang; Xin Chen; Tianjia Zhu; Yufan Chen; Jinxia Zhu; Hao Huang; Guangbin Wang

doi:10.1007/s00330-021-08176-2

Single-direction diffusion-weighted imaging may be a simple complementary sequence for evaluating fetal corpus callosum

Eur Radiol. 2022 Feb;32(2):1135-1143. doi: 10.1007/s00330-021-08176-2. Epub 2021 Jul 30.

Authors

Cong Sun¹, Xinjuan Zhang², Xin Chen², Tianjia Zhu^{3

4}, Yufan Chen¹, Jinxia Zhu⁵, Hao Huang^{3

6}, Guangbin Wang^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
² Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
³ Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁴ Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁵ MR Collaboration, Siemens Healthcare Ltd., Beijing, China.
⁶ Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁷ Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China. wgb7932596@hotmail.com.
⁸ Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, China. wgb7932596@hotmail.com.

PMID: 34331117
DOI: 10.1007/s00330-021-08176-2

Abstract

Objectives: To explore the feasibility of single-direction diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for assessing the fetal corpus callosum (CC).

Methods: This prospective study included 67 fetuses with normal CC and 35 fetuses suspected with agenesis of the corpus callosum (ACC). The MR protocols included HASTE, TrueFISP, and single-direction DWI. Two radiologists independently evaluated the optimal visibility and the contrast ratio (CR) of the normal fetal CC. The Chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test was used to compare the proportions of "good" visibility (score ≥ 3, and the CC was almost/entirely visible) between single-direction DWI and HASTE/TrueFISP. The CR difference between single-direction DWI and HASTE/TrueFISP was detected using the paired t-test. The diagnostic accuracies were determined by comparison with postnatal imaging. In fetuses suspected of ACC, we measured and compared the length and area of the mid-sagittal CC in the single-direction DWI images.

Results: The proportion of "good" visibility in single-direction DWI was higher than that in HASTE/TrueFISP, with p < 0.0001. The mean CR from single-direction DWI was also higher than that of TrueFISP and HASTE (both with p < 0.0001). The diagnostic accuracy of the single-direction DWI combined with HASTE/TrueFisp (97.1%, 34/35) was higher than that of the Haste/TrueFISP (74.3%, 26/35) (p = 0.013). The length and area of the PACC (p < 0.001, p = 0.001, respectively) and HCC (p < 0.001, p = 0.018, respectively) groups were significantly lower than those of the normal group.

Conclusions: The single-direction DWI is feasible in displaying fetal CC and can be a complementary sequence in diagnosing ACC.

Key points: • We suggest a simple method for the display of the fetal CC. • The optimal visibility and contrast ratio from single-direction DWI were higher than those from HASTE and TrueFISP. • The diagnostic accuracy of the single-direction DWI combined with HASTE/TrueFISP sequences (97.1%, 34/35) was higher than that of the Haste/TrueFISP (74.3%, 26/35).

Keywords: Corpus callosum; Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI); Fetus.

MeSH terms

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular*
Corpus Callosum / diagnostic imaging
Female
Fetus / diagnostic imaging
Humans
Liver Neoplasms*
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Pregnancy
Prospective Studies

Abstract

MeSH terms

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