This framework for practice was developed by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine and British Society of Neuroradiologists and has been endorsed by the British Paediatric Neurology Association and the Society of Radiographers.

MRI has become increasingly available to clinicians to evaluate the newborn. However, with the exception of MRI in term infants with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE), there are no formal guidelines that address the clinical indications for and the practical aspects of MRI of the brain in this patient group within the National Health Service (NHS).

The purpose of this framework is to:

The roles of MRI in postmortem examination, fetal imaging and perinatal research are beyond the scope of this document, as are detailed sequence parameter recommendations for image acquisition on specific scanners.

The recommendations for scanning in this document are based on the use of 1.0 T and 3.0 T scanners; while ultra-low field, low field and ultra-high field scanners are available, they are not currently in widespread clinical use.

MR scanning of the newborn should be undertaken in a facility with radiographers experienced in examining this patient group. Radiologists with subspecialty training in paediatric radiology and/or neuroradiology should report these images. A network or regional approach and multidisciplinary team (MDT) review can facilitate this.

Infants born at term (≥37 weeks’ gestational age (GA)) with acquired brain injury, neonatal encephalopathy (NE) and/or seizures should undergo MRI, which is the imaging modality of choice. For prognostic and diagnostic purposes, the optimal timing for image acquisition in cases of HIE is between 4 and 14 days after birth. In newborn infants with NE and/or seizures in whom HIE is not suspected, MRI should not be delayed …