title: Clinical and neuroimaging profile of congenital brain malformations in children with spastic cerebral palsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Analysis of the incidence of congenital brain malformations in children with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) in a hospital-based study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The present study included 74 boys and 56 girls with spastic tetraplegia, diplegia, and hemiplegia CP. Magnetic resonance imaging MRI findings were analyzed in children with CP.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant abnormalities relevant to the CP were evident on MRI in 124 (95.3%) subjects. Periventicular leukomalacia (PVL) was detected more frequently in children with spastic diplegia than in patients with tetraplegia or hemiplegia. Cerebral atrophy was found more often in the tetraplegic group compared to the diplegic patients. Porencephalic cysts were detected more often in children with spastic hemiplegia. Congenital brain anomalies were evident in 15 (10.7%) children with spastic CP. Brain malformations included: schizencephaly (5), agenesis corpus callosum (4), polymicrogyria (2), holoprosencephaly (2) and lissencephaly (2). Intractable epilepsy and mental retardation were observed more often in children with brain anomalies. Twelve patients with congenital brain malformations were born at term and three born at preterm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Neuroimaging results in children with CP may help determine the etiology and make better prognosis of CP.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Rehabilitation, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland. kulak@hot.pl
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kułak
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sobaniec
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gościk
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Oleński
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Okurowska-Zawada
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001284:Atrophy; D001921:Brain / Q000002:abnormalities*; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors