Special Articles
Practical diagnostic imaging for children at the pediatric hospitals

1. Perinatal brain damage : MRI findings

Tetsu Niwa 1）, Noriko Aida 1）, Ayako Shishikura 1）, Kazutoshi Fujita 1，2）
Department of Radiology, Kanagawa Children’s Medical Center 1）
Department of Radiology, Yokohama Minamikyosai Hospital 2）

Abstract

　　The development of the neonatal brain is systematic. Because imaging findings of the neonatal brain are distinctive, the scanning method should be optimized for neonates. In perinatal asphyxia, the patterns of brain injuries are related to the period and severity of hypoxia or ischemia. In this article we describe, first, scanning technique and normal imaging findings on CT and MRI of neonatal brain ; second, imaging findings of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, especially MR findings correlated with neurologic prognosis. We also describe recent imaging techniques including diffusion-weighted imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy and susceptibility-weighted imaging, which are used neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Keywords：Neonate, Perinatal brain damage, MRI