Minor cerebral alterations observed by magnetic resonance imaging in syndromic children with mental retardation.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the anomalies of the central nervous system (CNS) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in normal subjects and in syndromic patients.


METHODS
Seventy-three normal subjects and 50 different syndromic patients with mental retardation (from 3 months to 16 years) were studied utilizing several morphometric parameters (degree of myelination of the white matter, evaluation of liquoral spaces, septo-caudate distance, Evans index, Aboulezz method, and length, width and angles of corpus callosum).


RESULTS
A high frequency of anomalies of the corpus callosum, the Chiari anomaly and alterations either of the white matter or of the ventricular and periencephalic system have been observed.


CONCLUSIONS
The authors point out the importance of cerebral MRI in the study of CNS in patients with malformation syndromes. The present research, carried out on a large number of both normal subjects and patients with malformation syndromes, represents one of the first systematic studies in this field.
Gabrielli
O
O
Department of Pediatrics, University of Ancona, Italy.
Coppa
G V
GV
Manzoni
M
M
Carloni
I
I
Kantar
A
A
Maricotti
M
M
Salvolini
U
U
D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013577:Syndrome