Can pregnant women undergo MRI examinations?

Pregnant women need to pay special attention during pregnancy. After all, there is a baby in her belly. Every move of the pregnant mother may affect the baby. For example, pregnant women cannot eat spicy and irritating foods during pregnancy, and they must refrain from smoking and drinking, etc. These are harmful to the fetus in the belly and may affect the growth of the fetus. More seriously, it may cause fetal deformities, imperfect development, etc. But check-ups for pregnant women during pregnancy are essential, so can pregnant women undergo MRI examinations?

In fact, gynecologists and imaging experts have different opinions. Some say there is no impact, while others say there may be an impact.

Some doctors believe that there is basically no effect of doing MRI within 30 days of pregnancy and after 20 weeks of pregnancy; from 30 days to 20 weeks, the fetus is in a critical period of growth and development and should be avoided as much as possible, but there is currently no data showing what effects MRI during this period will have on the fetus.

Some doctors also believe that MRI itself has little effect on the body, but pregnant women are a special group and it is best not to do it in the early stages of pregnancy. The impact will be relatively smaller in the later stages of pregnancy. Personally, she has not yet encountered any patients with fetal malformations due to MRI in clinical practice.

An imaging expert believes that during pregnancy, as long as it does not pose a life-threatening risk, pregnant women should try not to undergo MRI, although MRI is currently safe. Because the world's medical use of magnetic resonance imaging has not been long, and my country's use of magnetic resonance imaging in medicine has been even shorter, only more than 20 years, many potential impacts are still unknown to us, so we try not to do it if possible.

Another imaging expert believes that magnetic resonance imaging itself will not affect the fetus, but may cause miscarriage in pregnant women. If a pregnant woman has an MRI and does not have a miscarriage, then there is basically nothing wrong with the fetus.

It is worth noting that most scholars now advocate that MRI examinations should be avoided for pregnant women within 3 months of pregnancy, because the embryo is still in the formation and development stage, and the fetus is more sensitive to stimulation and interference from various uncertain factors. MRI is safe after 3 months of pregnancy.

In addition to this, who else should not undergo or should be cautious about undergoing MRI examinations? Experts say that people who have magnetic substances in their bodies, such as pacemakers, artificial valves, etc.; people who have metal contraceptive rings, dentures, electronic ears, artificial eyes, etc., cannot undergo MRI examinations.

MRI examination:

1. Systemic soft tissue lesions: Regardless of whether they originate from tumors, infections, degenerative lesions of nerves, blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, muscles, or connective tissues, a relatively accurate positioning and qualitative diagnosis can be made.

2. Bones and joints: The diagnosis and scope of bone infection, tumor, and trauma, especially subtle changes such as bone contusion, have great value. It also has high diagnostic value for lesions of intra-articular cartilage, ligaments, meniscus, synovium, synovial bursa, and bone marrow lesions.

3. Chest lesions: tumors, lymph nodes and pleural lesions in the mediastinum, etc., can show the relationship between the lung masses and larger trachea and blood vessels.

4. Pelvic organs: uterine fibroids, other uterine tumors, ovarian tumors, qualitative location of pelvic masses, tumors of the rectum, prostate and bladder, etc.

5. Abdominal organs: Diagnosis and differential diagnosis of liver cancer, hepatic hemangioma and liver cysts, diagnosis and differential diagnosis of intra-abdominal masses, especially retroperitoneal lesions.

6. Nervous system lesions: cerebral infarction, brain tumors, inflammation, degenerative diseases, congenital malformations, trauma, etc. are the earliest human systems to be applied. We have accumulated rich experience and the positioning and qualitative diagnosis of lesions are relatively accurate and timely, and early lesions can be discovered.

7. Cardiovascular system: It can be used for the diagnosis of heart disease, cardiomyopathy, pericardial tumors, pericardial effusion, mural thrombus, endocardial sheet detachment, etc.