A three-year follow-up of children imaged in utero with echo-planar magnetic resonance

Echo-planar magnetic resonance imaging of a fetus may not adversely affect its hearing. Echo-planar imaging is faster than conventional magnetic resonance imaging and gives a clearer image. There is concern, however, that the acoustic noise levels due to the changing magnetic field gradients may cause hearing loss in the fetus. Echo-planar imaging was performed on 20 pregnant women whose fetuses had been diagnosed as abnormal. Of the 18 infants who were followed, 16 passed their eight-month hearing distraction test. The two infants who did not pass were later found to have normal hearing. A larger study is needed to confirm the safety of echo-planar imaging.