MRI of Acute Abdominal and Pelvic Pain in Pregnant Patients

OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to show the usefulness of MRI in the evalu-ation of pregnant women with acute abdominal or pelvic pain. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. All MRI studies of pregnant patients who were referred for examination because of acute abdominal or pelvic pain between June 2002 and May 2004 were included in this study (n = 29). The use of MRI was at the discretion of the clinician. Fetal sonography was performed in all patients before any other imaging. A complete abdominal sonographic examination was performed in six patients before MRI. In the remaining 23 pa-tients, MRI was the choice for primary imaging. Multiplanar multisequence MR images of the abdomen and pelvis were obtained in each patient. Unenhanced images were reviewed by an experienced radiologist to determine whether a diagnosis could be made without the adminis-tration of gadolinium. In 22 of 29 studies, gadolinium was not administered. The prospective clinical MR interpretations were compared with follow-up medical, surgical, and obstetric records to determine the correctness of the interpretation. All patients were followed up until the date of article submission or until the date of final chart entry. RESULTS. Correlation of prospective clinical MR interpretations with follow-up medica