Intravoxel incoherent motion MRI combined with Doppler findings in predicting very low birth weight infants

Very low birth weight infants (VLBWI) are an adverse pregnancy outcome in small for gestational age infants (SGA). We explored the value of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) histogram parameters and Doppler parameters in predicting VLBWI from SGA. Compared with the SGA group, true diffusion coefficients (Dmean, D50th, D75th, D90th) and perfusion fraction (fmax) were significantly lower, and umbilical artery pulsatility index, resistance index (RI), and peak systolic velocity/end-diastolic velocity were significantly higher in the VLBWI group. A combined predictive model (D90th and RI) improved diagnostic performance and demonstrated the potential of IVIM histogram analysis for clinical diagnosis of VLBWI.