Difference of brain cortical thickness and area of different lobes between fetuses with intrauterine growth restriction and control group assessed by 3 Tesla MRI

Background: Intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) is a major factor of perinatal and long-term morbidity and is associated with abnormal fetal brain development but its pattern of brain involvement is still unknown. Materials and Methods: 42 women with IUGR pregnancy and 28 women with normally-grown fetuses between 28-38 weeks underwent 3Tesla MRI. Cortical thickness was assessed in 4 regions and was corrected by biparietal diameter/2. Also, whole brain surface area (WBA) and areas of 6 brain regions were included and corrected by WBA. Results: IUGR fetuses had significantly thinner cortical thickness in the insula and temporal lobes compared to the control group (0.034 vs 0.043 and 0.036 vs 0.047 respectively, P value of < 0.05). They had significantly reduced WBA (P value: 0.028). The corrected brain areas were not significantly different between groups except for the corrected areas of cerebellum and hippocampus which were increased in IUGR fetuses compared to the control group (0.147vs 0.130,0.017vs 0.0125 respectively, P value of < 0.05). Conclusion: IUGR fetuses had significantly thinner insular and temporal lobe cortex and smaller WBA compared to the control group. Among different brain regions, cerebellum and hippocampus were less affected by growth restriction in utero period.