Contribution of computed tomography in the aetiology and prognosis of cerebral palsy in children

Abstract

Retrospective analysis of computed tomographic (CT) examinations in 76 children with cerebral palsy without any severe intellectual handicap has revealed abnormalities in 63% of these children; abnormalities were present in 88% of former pre-term infants. This study highlights the significant pathogenic role of periventricular leucomalacia in cerebral palsy, since in 45% of the cases of this series this diagnosis had been reached as a result of a characteristic CT appearance associated with a history of premature birth and very specific clinical deficits. The CT abnormalities, mostly posterior and generally bilateral and symmetrical, affect the contours of the lateral ventricles, which become straight and angular, and often involve ventriculomegaly (85%). Localized juxtaventricular hypodensities were only found in a few cases (6%). The cognitive and intellectual sequelae in these children were more severe than in those children whose CT examination was normal, and were also more pronounced when the longitudinal fissure of the cerebrum was enlarged.