PORENCEPHALIC CYST

Abstract

Porencephaly is a lesion of rare occurrence, but it is of considerable clinical and pathologic interest. A true porencephalic cyst is a fluidfilled cavity located in the cerebral or the cerebellar structure and communicating with one of the ventricles. Commonly, the clinical association of convulsions and mental deficiency with spastic paralysis and underdevelopment of one side of the body suggests the presence of this defect. The etiology is diverse, for such cysts may be congenital or acquired, traumatic or inflammatory in origin. While agreement exists that in most instances the porus is the result of an intrauterine inflammatory disease or trauma 1 which interferes with normal cerebral circulation, there are still some doubts as to the exact site of the vascular damage, such as that recently expressed by Patten and associates: 1a It cannot be stated with certainty whether the involvement of branches of one of the three major arteries