Clinical value of prenatal MRI for diagnosis of isolated ventriculomegaly and prediction of early postnatal developmental outcomes

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship of ventriculomegaly (VM) with postnatal neurological development. METHODS Fetuses with isolated VM on MRI (n = 160; VM group) were separated into three subgroups according to lateral ventricle width: subgroup A (10.0-12.0 mm; n = 113), subgroup B (12.1-15.0 mm; n = 37), and subgroup C (>15.0 mm; n = 10). Fifty normal fetuses formed a control group. Post-delivery changes in ventricular width and neurological development were assessed with MRI/ultrasonography and the Gesell Development Schedules (GDS), respectively, at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months. RESULTS GDS scores of subgroup A and subgroup B did not differ from that of the controls at 3 and 6 months. Subgroup B scores differed significantly from the control scores at 12 and 18 months. Subgroup C scores differed from the control scores at all-time points (all P