MR CONTRAST ENHANCEMENT OF THE NORMAL NEONATAL BRAIN

PURPOSE: To determine the pattern of enhancement on contrast-enhanced MR studies of the brain in neonates, METHODS: Contrast-enhanced brain MR studies of 16 neonates were reviewed retrospectively. All infants h ad normal neonatal courses, normal noncontrast MR findings, and normal neurologic examinations at age 12 months. All enhancing regions withi n the brain, dura, calvaria, and orbits were recorded. An enhancement factor, F = (Ic-Ip)/Ip, was calculated from region-of-interest intensi ty measurements in five regions of each hemisphere (basal ganglia, tha lami, and three hemispheric locations), where Ic was signal intensity after contrast administration and Ip was the noncontrast signal intens ity for each region, RESULTS: Enhancement was detected in the choroid plexus, pituitary infundibula, pineal glands, dura, veins and venous s inuses, cranial sutures, and irises of the orbital globes. No enhancem ent of the brain parenchyma was detected by visual inspection, althoug h some change in signal intensity of the cerebral parenchyma was detec ted by the region-of-interest intensity measurements, with enhancement factors ranging from 0 to 0.08 (mean, 0.04). No consistent regional v ariation in enhancement was detected. Because the degree of enhancemen t was identical to that in the normal adult brain, the slight enhancem ent detected was attributed to contrast material in capillaries and sm all venules. CONCLUSION: In addition to the expected findings of enhan cement of the pituitary stalk, the pineal gland, the choroid plexus, t he dura, and the cerebral veins, we detected enhancement of the calvar ial sutures and ocular irises, No evidence of enhancement of the cereb ral parenchyma was detected, suggesting that the blood-brain barrier t o gadolinium chelates is intact in the neonatal brain.