Journal
FRONTIERS IN MEDICINE
Volume 9, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.889976
Keywords
magnetic resonance imaging; fetal liver; pregnancy; fetal cytomegalovirus infection; fetal brain abnormalities
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This study assessed the FLV of CMV-infected fetuses using MRI and compared it with a group of healthy fetuses. The results showed that the FLV of CMV-infected fetuses was higher when corrected for AC and FBV, indicating relative hepatomegaly.
ObjectiveTo assess fetal liver volume (FLV) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in cytomegalovirus (CMV)-infected fetuses compared to a group of healthy fetuses. MethodMost infected cases were diagnosed by the evidence of ultrasound abnormalities during routine scans and in some after maternal CMV screening. CMV-infected fetuses were considered severely or mildly affected according to prenatal brain lesions identified by ultrasound (US)/MRI. We assessed FLV, the FLV to abdominal circumference (AC) ratio (FLV/AC-ratio), and the FLV to fetal body volume (FBV) ratio (FLV/FBV-ratio). As controls, we included 33 healthy fetuses. Hepatomegaly was evaluated post-mortem in 11 cases of congenital CMV infection. Parametric trend and intraclass correlation analyses were performed. ResultsThere were no significant differences in FLV between infected (n = 32) and healthy fetuses. On correcting the FLV for AC and FBV, we observed a significantly higher FLV in CMV-infected fetuses. There were no significant differences in the FLV, or the FLV/AC or FLV/FBV-ratios according to the severity of brain abnormalities. There was excellent concordance between the fetal liver weight estimated by MRI and liver weight obtained post-mortem. Hepatomegaly was not detected in any CMV-infected fetus. ConclusionIn CMV-infected fetuses, FLV corrected for AC and FBV was higher compared to healthy controls, indicating relative hepatomegaly. These parameters could potentially be used as surrogate markers of liver enlargement.
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