Prenatal magnetic resonance imaging of fetal renal development: growth curves and comparison with unilateral renal agenesis and ectopic kidneys.

Authors

Lu Nie, Qifan Yang, Chuchu Chen, Wang Zhang, Fengli Zhang, Yizi Lu, Yun Wei

Published in

Pediatric radiology. Jul 24, 2026. Epub Jul 24, 2026.

Abstract

Fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly used to evaluate fetal kidneys, but prenatal MRI-based growth curves across gestational age (GA) and comparative data for abnormalities are limited.
To delineate normal fetal renal development on prenatal MRI and compare contralateral kidneys in unilateral renal agenesis or ectopic kidneys with normally developing fetuses.
Prenatal MRI examinations of 160 fetuses with normal kidneys were reviewed. Measurements included renal bipolar length, transverse diameter, anteroposterior diameter, parenchymal thickness, and abdominal diameters (anteroposterior and transverse). Signal intensities of renal tissue, renal pelvis, lungs, liver, and amniotic fluid were recorded, and signal intensity ratios were calculated. Associations between imaging parameters and GA were analyzed. Growth curves were constructed using generalized additive models. MRI-based data from 17 fetuses with unilateral renal agenesis and 6 fetuses with ectopic kidneys were GA-matched to normal controls for comparative analysis.
Renal size parameters, abdominal diameters, and lung-to-liver signal intensity ratio increased with GA (P<0.05), whereas renal anteroposterior-to-transverse diameter ratio, renal anteroposterior-to-abdominal anteroposterior diameter ratio, and renal tissue-to-pelvis signal intensity ratio decreased (P<0.05). Renal size parameters showed smooth, monotonic growth. Versus normal fetuses, contralateral kidneys in unilateral renal agenesis had greater renal anteroposterior diameter and renal anteroposterior-to-abdominal anteroposterior diameter ratio and lower renal tissue-to-pelvis signal intensity ratio (P<0.05), whereas contralateral kidneys in fetuses with ectopic kidneys showed no significant differences.
Reference prenatal MRI growth curves for normal fetal kidneys from 21-37 weeks were established, providing normative data for assessing fetal renal development and abnormalities.

PMID:
42496698
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 24 Jul 2026.

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