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The authors retrospectively evaluated 109 fetuses within 25 weeks of gestational age who had undergone both prenatal and postnatal MR imaging of the brain between 2002 and 2014, and using the postnatal MRI as the reference standard, they calculated the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the prenatal MRI in detecting brain malformations. Prenatal MR imaging failed to detect correctly 11 of the 111 malformations. They conclude that diagnostic value of prenatal MRI for brain malformations within 25 weeks of GA is very high, despite limitations of sensitivity in the early detection of disorders of cortical development, such as polymicrogyria and periventricular nodular heterotopias.

The authors evaluated 15 children treated by indirect cerebral revascularization with multiple burr-holes between 2011–2013. Arterial spin-labeling MR imaging and T1 sequences were analyzed under SPM8 before and after the operation (3 and 12 months). Group analysis showed statistically significant preoperative hypoperfusion in the MCA territory in the Moyamoya hemispheres and a significant increase of cerebral perfusion in the same territory after revascularization. The authors conclude that SPM analysis of arterial spin-labeling MR imaging offers a noninvasive evaluation of preoperative cerebral hemodynamic impairment and an objective assessment of postoperative improvement in children with Moyamoya disease.