title: Neuroimaging abnormalities in infants with congenital hemiparesis.
abstract: Clinical and neuroimaging characteristics of congenital hemiparesis were examined in a retrospective cohort study nested within 199,176 births within the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program, 1997-2002. Infants with a physician diagnosis of paresis or cerebral palsy were electronically identified, and charts were reviewed to confirm congenital hemiparesis. A neuroradiologist reviewed available head MRI and CT scans. Of 96 infants with congenital hemiparesis (population prevalence 4.8 per 10,000), 81% received either a head magnetic resonance imaging (n = 55) or head computed tomography only (n = 23). Perinatal arterial infarction was the most common (30%) neuroimaging finding in term infants. Infants with right-sided hemiparesis (relative risk 4.6, 95% confidence interval 1.4-14.4) or moderate to severe weakness (relative risk 4.4, 95% confidence interval 1.1-17.7) were more likely to have had a perinatal arterial infarction. Periventricular white matter lesions predominated in preterm infants (71%). Brain malformations observed in 14 (18%) patients included polymicrogyria, heterotopia, and schizencephaly. The 14 infants (18%) with a normal head imaging study were more likely to outgrow all signs of hemiparesis by age 3 than were infants with an abnormal brain image (29% vs 0%, P < 0.001). Neuroimaging studies provide useful diagnostic and prognostic information in infants with congenital hemiparesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0137, USA. wuy@neuropeds.ucsf.edu
authors.forename: Yvonne W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Camilla E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Lindan
authors.forename: Louis H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Henning
authors.forename: Cathleen K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Heather J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Fullerton
authors.forename: Donna M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Ferriero
authors.forename: A James
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Barkovich
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Croen
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D002140:California; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010291:Paresis / Q000151:congenital* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed