ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Neurodevelopment
Sylvian Fissure Angle Development on Fetal MRI: 22-38 Gestational Weeks
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sichuan Provincial Woman's and Children's Hospital, Chengdu, China
- 2GE Healthcare MR Research, Beijing, China
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Objective: To quantify Sylvian fissure angle (SFA) development via fetal MRI and establish the reference range and growth curve during normal pregnancy. Materials & Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study collected 324 singleton fetuses at 22-38 weeks gestation (GA), without abnormal signs on MRI or chromosomal defects from January 2022 to December 2023. Six SFAs were defined and measured: Sylvian fissure plateau angle (SFPA), anterior (SFARA)/posterior rotation angles (SFPRA) in transthalamic axial plane, and SFPA, superior (SFSRA)/inferior rotation angles (SFIRA) in third ventricular coronal plane. Then, the correlation between SFAs and GA will be analyzed, and the growth curve model will be fitted. Retrospective cortical malformation cases validated the model. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to evaluate interobserver variability of the SFAs measurements. Results: ICC for SFAs measurements demonstrated good reliability (0.772-0.976). The bilateral SFARA and SFSRA were significantly positively related to GA (r = 0.914, 0.926, 0.842, 0.836, left to right, all p < 0.001). The bilateral SFPRA, SFIRA, and SFPA (both axial and coronal view) were negatively related to GA (r value range: -0.601 to -0.145, all p < 0.001). For each SFA and GA, the quadratic curve has the best goodness of fit. Model detected cortical malformation (genetically confirmed). Except for SFARA, all SFAs were statistically different between the two sides. Conclusion: The dynamic development of the fetus SFA can be well evaluated by MRI. The SFAs reference range will enhance the accuracy of fetal brain assessment and offer a quantitative reference framework for identifying deviations suggestive of cortical malformations.
Keywords: fetal brain, growth curve, MRI, Normal development, Reference range, Sylvian fissure angle
Received: 15 Aug 2025; Accepted: 01 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Song, Lu, Yin, Chen, Liu, Kang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ran Li
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