Extracerebellar ectopic brain tissue in the posterior fossa

Contribution of fetal cerebral MRI for diagnosis of structural anomalies

More than 20 years after its introduction, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now considered a useful complementary tool in the imaging work-up of fetal brain structural anomalies, but its real contribution in neuro-fetal imaging is still controversial. Our purpose is to present an overview of the most valuable indications of fetal cerebral MRI in current practice as guided by dedicated ultrasound analysis. On the basis of a review of the literature and our personal experience, we underline herein the real complementarities between these two techniques in different clinical or imaging settings and show how MRI adds significant information compared with ultrasound, especially in the late second and third trimesters. We assess the interest of using MRI from a technical point of view (complete and extensive anatomical analysis, analysis of developmental and pathological processes) and from a practical point of view in different imaging and clinical settings.

Intracranial extracerebral glioneuronal heterotopia with fetal laminar organization on MR imaging

We present the brain MR imaging findings in a 13-month-old male infant with intracranial extracerebral brain tissue demonstrating the typical laminar organization pattern of fetal cerebral wall accompanied by unilateral anophthalmia and ethmoidal encephalocele supported by CT imaging.