Applicability of the Magnetic Resonance Technique during the Gestational Period: a narrative review

Abstract

Over the last few decades, fetal imaging has led to significant improvements in prenatal counseling and postnatal therapy options, as obstetric MRI examination mainly plays a complementary role to the morphological ultrasound study when there is any diagnostic doubt or even to confirm If there is any abnormal finding in the conventional ultrasound exam. It is worth noting that there is no evidence that MRI causes biological effects in the fetus, the exams should be reserved for patients in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Here, we performed a literature review to point out the importance of the applicability of gestational Magnetic Resonance for the identification of changes in embryonic development, gestational pathologies, maternal diseases, sequelae of infections, fetal malformations, diagnosis of placental deficiency and creation of three-dimensional prototypes for surgical planning and fetal visualization. From this narrative review it was possible to identify that the applicability of gestational MRI is related to the identification of alterations in embryonic development, gestational pathologies in general, maternal diseases, sequelae of infections, fetal malformations, diagnosis of placental deficiency and creation of prototypes three-dimensional (3D) models for surgical planning and fetal visualization.