Fetal periventricular pseudocysts: is MRI evaluation needed? What is the long-term neurodevelopmental outcome? Systematic review and meta-analysis

To explore the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in fetuses with periventricular pseudocysts (PVPC) and the neurodevelopmental outcomes of these fetuses via meta-analysis.

MEDLINE and EMBASE database were searched for studies reporting on the MRI assessment of fetuses diagnosed with PVPC on neurosonography. The neurosonography was conducted according to the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG) guidelines or standard axial, coronal and sagittal planes for advanced central nervous system (CNS) assessment. Single-shot fast spin-echo T2-weighted sequences of MRI technique in three orthogonal planes were necessarily performed. The pooled proportion of CNS anomalies missed on neurosonography and detected only at prenatal MRI was calculated. Subanalysis was performed according to the types of intracranial anomalies. The pregnancy outcomes (including normal, abnormal, termination of pregnancy, and perinatal death) of PVPC fetuses were also analyzed.

Five studies comprising 136 fetuses were included in this meta-analysis. Mean gestational age was 29.8 weeks (16–38 weeks) at ultrasonography and 31.5 weeks (25–37 weeks) at MRI. Overall, MRI detected exclusively CNS anomalies in 25.2% (95% CI 15.9–35.8%) of cases. Among them, the highest incidence was white matter abnormalities with the pooled proportion of 16.3% (95% CI 9.7–24.2%). When getting rid of white matter abnormalities, the risk of associated CNS anomalies only detected on MRI was reduced to 9.1% (95% CI 1.8–21.4%). Meanwhile, 130 cases were studied to assess the pregnancy outcomes with the scope of 1 month to 10 years. The pooled proportion of normal outcomes in isolated PVPC fetuses was as high as 95.0% (95% CI 83.9–99.8%). When analyzing the neurodevelopmental outcomes in non-isolated PVPC fetuses, the incidence of normal neurodevelopmental outcomes was about 22.1% (95% CI 5.6–45.5%) with mild and single additional abnormalities, the rate of abnormal neurodevelopmental outcomes was 19.5% (95% CI 11.0–29.7%) with apparent and/or multiple abnormalities. Besides, 53.6% (95% CI 35.4–71.3%) of non-isolated PVPC cases were terminated mainly due to infections, genetic anomalies, metabolic disorders and hemorrhage.

MRI assessment of PVPC fetuses is recommended to detect associated intracranial anomalies that may be missed on dedicated neurosonography. White matter abnormalities on MRI account for the majority of additional anomalies, which might to be the clue of CMV infection, aminoacidopathy or white matter disease. Moreover, the neurodevelopmental outcome of isolated PVPC fetuses remains favorable, while the neurodevelopmental outcomes of non-isolated PVPC fetuses depend on the accompanying anomaly.