Prenatal MR Imaging of Focal Cortical Gyration Anomalies at Early Stage of Development

Andrea Righini¹, Cecilia Parazzini¹, Chiara Doneda¹, Laura Avagliano², Filippo Arrigoni¹, Mariangela Rustico¹, Gaetano Bulfamante², Fabio Triulzi¹

We report the MRI patterns of focal cortical gyration anomalies, as they appear at a very early stage of the sulcation process (when fetal brain is almost lyssencephalic). 22 cases (gestational age between 21 and 24 weeks) showed focal gyration anomalies, which could be divided in four basic patterns of cortical rim distortion: wart-like, saw-tooth, major aberrant invaginating sulucs/i, single or multiple bumps. Most of these cases presented similarities to the rat model of experimentally induced polymicrogyria. The present cohort shows how focal cortical gyration anomalies can be detected even at very early sulcation process stage