title: [Increasing incidence of left-sided congenital hemiplegias: indication of an asymmetrical vulnerability in the maturing hemispheres?].
abstract: Between 1960 and 1983, 101 patients with congenital hemiplegia were seen at the Cerebral Palsy Center of Berne, Switzerland. During this period the numbers of right hemiplegias decreased simultaneously with the birth rate, while the left hemiplegias showed a significant increase. The known prevalence of right hemiplegias has thus disappeared in favor oft the left side (63% during the first 12.44% during the second 12 years). A continuously sinking perinatal mortality-rate during the observed time suggests an improved survival of children with lesions of the right hemisphere. This hypothesis implies a higher vulnerability of the maturing right hemisphere and could explain the earlier prevalence of right hemiplegias. Possible causes of a hemispheric asymmetry are discussed.
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006429:Hemiplegia / Q000151:congenital* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D012306:Risk; D013557:Switzerland
vernacular_title: Zunehmende Inzidenz der linksseitigen kongenitalen Hemiplegien: Hinweis auf eine asymmetrische Vulnerabilität der reifenden Hemisphären?