Imaging Perinatal Death
摘要
Perinatal death, including stillbirth and neonatal death within 28 days after birth, is a devastating event. The definition of stillbirth varies across countries. The NHS, national health service (UK), defines stillbirth as a baby born dead after 24 completed weeks of pregnancy [1]. The CDC, center for disease control and prevention (USA), defines it as loss of a baby at or after 20 weeks of pregnancy [2]. According to the WHO, World Health Organization, a baby who dies after 28 weeks of pregnancy, but before or during birth, is classified as stillbirth [3]. Although rare and significantly decreasing in the last decades, the office for national statistics reports in 2020 a rate of 3.8 stillbirths per 1000 total births in England and Wales [4] and neonatal mortality rate (aged under 28 days) of 2.7 per 1000 births [5]. Investigation of the fetus after death is important, not only for quality control of prenatal examinations and determining the cause of death, but for mourning purposes of the parents and counseling and management of future pregnancies. Autopsy reveals additional abnormalities in 16–76% of cases compared to antemortem imaging [6–11]. Less invasive techniques, including postmortem MRI (PMMRI), are used as a replacement or addition to autopsy. In this chapter we explain the suggested radiological modality for additional postmortem examination in fetal and neonatal deaths and clinical aspects of the main imaging modality, PMMRI in perinatal deaths.