Indications for the performance of neuroimaging in children

Abstract

Pediatric neurology relies on ultrasound, computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. CT prevails in acute neurological presentations, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), non-traumatic coma, stroke and status epilepticus, because of easy availability, with images of diagnostic quality, e.g. to exclude haemorrhage, usually completed quickly enough to avoid sedation. Concerns over the risks of ionizing radiation mean re-imaging and higher dose procedures, e.g. arteriography and venography, require justification. T1/T2-weighted imaging (T1/T2-WI) MR with additional sequences (arteriography, venography, T2*, spectroscopy, diffusion tensor, perfusion, diffusion- (DWI) and susceptibility-weighted (SWI)) often clarifies the diagnosis, which may alter management in acute settings, as well as chronic conditions, e.g. epilepsy. Clinical acumen remains essential to avoid imaging, e.g. in genetic epilepsies or migrainous headaches responding to treatment, or to target sequences to specific diagnosis e.g. T1/T2-WI for shunt dysfunction (with SWI for TBI); DWI, arteriography including neck vessels, and venography for acute hemiplegia or coma; coronal temporal cuts for partial epilepsy; or muscle imaging for motor delay. The risk of general anesthesia is low; ‘head only’ scanners may allow rapid MRI without sedation. Timely and accurate reporting, with discrepancy discussion between expert neuroradiologists, is important for management of the child and the family’s expectations.

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ORCID for Fenella Kirkham: orcid.org/0000-0002-2443-7958

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