Hemiplegic cerebral palsy: correlation between CT morphology and clinical findings

Morphological findings on CT were compared with clinical features of 111 children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy. Periventricular atrophy, interpreted as periventricular leukomalacia, was the most prevalent CT finding, although this type of lesion did not indicate severity of neurological impairment. Maldevelopments were associated with arm-dominated hemiplegia and with a wider range of clinical impairments than previously described. Cortical/subcortical atrophy, less common than presumed, indicated arm-dominated hemiplegia and was associated with more severe impairment than were other CT findings. A normal CT scan indicated leg-dominated hemiplegia and mild impairment. The morphological information obtained by CT was found to be useful for predicting clinical outcome, and was considered an important adjunct to clinical history and findings in these children.