Fetal Brain Growth in the Early Second Trimester

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FIG 1.
Representative example of ROIs in the brain of 12-week (A), 15-week (B), and 19-week-old fetuses (C). The supratentorial brain is labeled in dark blue; the ventricular CSF, in light blue; the extra-axial CSF, in green; the brainstem, in salmon; and the cerebellum, in yellow.
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FIG 2.
Application of inclusion and exclusion criteria in a flow diagram.
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FIG 3.
Absolute and relative volume growth per week. For each structure, absolute volume growth per week of GA (A) and relative volume growth per week (B) demonstrate relatively larger supratentorial growth during these early GAs.

Table 1:

Demographics and clinical characteristics

Population Characteristics	Median (Range)
Maternal age (yr)	32 (18–41)
Median GA (weeks)	18 (12–19)
Mean fetal growth percentile	44.62 (10.6–96.3)
Sex^{^a}
Female	12 (38.70%)
Male	19 (61.29%)
Fetal diagnosis
Congenital diaphragmatic hernia	7 (21.87%)
Normal	7 (21.87%)
Omphalocele	4 (12.5%)
Congenital pulmonary airway malformation	3 (9.37%)
Cleft lip	2 (6.25%)
Congenital heart disease	2 (6.25%)
Patent urachus	2 (6.25%)
Lymphatic malformation	1 (3.12%)
Occipital subcutaneous mass	1 (3.12%)
Hepatic hemangioma	1 (3.12%)
Hepatic pseudocyst	1 (3.12%)
Cardiac rhabdomyoma	1 (3.12%)

Table 2:

Relative volume change per week based on linear regression analyses^{^a}

Structure	Initial Relative Volume	Final Relative Volume	Change in Relative Volume per Week (95% CI)	P Value
Intraventricular CSF	23.52% (20.912%–26.12%)	8.64% (7.45%–9.84%)	−2.12 (−2.58 to −1.66)	.001
Supratentorial parenchyma	38.06% (34.25%–41.87%)	48.15% (46.39%–49.90%)	1.44 (0.77–2.11)	.001
Extra-axial CSF	32.26% (27.65%–36.86%)	39.62% (37.50%–41.74%)	1.05 (0.24–1.87)	.02
Brainstem	3.57% (2.97%–4.18%)	1.93% (1.66%–2.21%)	−0.23 (−0.34 to −0.13)	.001
Cerebellum	2.57% (2.16%–2.98%)	1.63% (1.44%–1.8%2)	−0.13 (−0.21 to −0.06)	.001

↵a Relative volume is expressed in terms of percentage. Data in parentheses are 95% CIs. ROIs are sorted in descending order based on the magnitude of the change of relative volume. The initial relative volume represents an estimate of 12 weeks' GA, and the final relative volume represents an estimate of 19 weeks' GA.