Abstract
After the introduction of cranial computed tomography (CT) it is now possible by an
atraumatic procedure to evaluate the pathophysiological findings in children suffering
from cerebral palsy (CP). The aim of this study is to describe the cranial CT findings
in children with CP and relate these to CP-type, grade of handicap, aetiology, and
presence of other functional cerebral defects.
The CT-examination was performed in 83 children with spastic CP (44 boys and 39 girls).
Fifty-seven children (67 %) had pathological CT. There was no statistically significant
difference between the frequencies of pathological CT findings in the groups with
tetraplegia, diplegia, and paraplegia. The frequency of pathological CT findings was
increasing with increasing severity of the motor handicap (p < 0.05). There were significantly
more children with pathological CT findings among CP children suffering from epilepsy,
than among CP children without epilepsy (p < 0.05). The CP children with the lowest
IQ, had numerical more pathological CT findings but there was no significant difference
among pathological CT findings in CP children with oligophrenia compared to the rest
of the group. Infarction, its sequelae and hemiatrophy were much more frequent in
patients with hemiplegia (p < 0.001) compared to the other CP-types.
The most frequent pathological CT finding was atrophy (44 cases among 56 pathological
CT). Central atrophy with enlargement of the ventricular system or parts of this was
found in 39 children. A special kind of central atrophy in this paper called isolated
atrophy around cella media, was seen more frequently in patients with paraplegia,
and in premature children with CP.
Key words
Cranial computed tomography - Cerebral palsy - Brain atrophy
