Clinical impact of term-equivalent magnetic resonance imaging in extremely low-birth-weight infants at a regional NICU

Objective:to evaluate the clinical impact of routine term-equivalent magnetic resonance imaging (te-mri) for extremely low-birth-weight infants at a regional neonatal intensive care unit.study design:this is a single-center retrospective study evaluating preterm survivors who underwent te-mri. mri abnormalities were compared between infants with and without cranial ultrasonography (cus) abnormalities. cost analysis comparing imaging modalities was also performed.results:te-mri use increased from 17% in 2006 to 76% in 2010. mri detected new findings in nearly half of infants, whether or not they had known ultrasound abnormalities. mri detected more cerebellar (18% vs 6%, p=0.04) and moderate white matter injury (12% vs 7%, p<0.001), and altered simulated neurological prognosis across developmental domains. the cost of te-mri was $1600, which was comparable to serial cuss.conclusion:te-mri detects new abnormalities and impacts developmental prognosis in the extremely low birth weight, which supports its use despite the added financial cost.