Purpose: The objective was to investigate the clinical features of schizencephaly in children with spastic cerebral palsy.
Material and methods: The present study included 180 children with cerebral palsy, spastic tetraplegia, diplegia, and hemiplegia. All magnetic resonance (MR) scans were obtained using a 1.5 T MR scanner with the use of a standard circularly polarized head coil.
Results: Significant abnormalities relevant to cerebral palsy were evident on MRI in 95%. Periventicular leukomalacia was detected more frequently in children with spastic diplegia than in other patients. Cerebral atrophy was found more often in tetraplegic patients. Porencephalic cysts were detected more often in children with spastic hemiplegia. Congenital brain anomalies were evident in 20 (11.1%) children with spastic cerebral palsy. Twelve patients had schizencephaly with cerebral palsy. Children with spastic diplegia and tetraplegia had bilateral schizencephaly; patients with spastic hemiplegia only had unilateral schizencephaly. Most patients with schizencephaly had epilepsy.
Conclusions: Schizencephaly occurred more often in patients with spastic hemiplegia. Early detection of brain abnormalities in children with cerebral palsy may help in the prognosis and in the introduction of appropriate therapy.