[Hemiplegia: diagnosis and differential diagnosis]

Hemiplegia is the most frequent form of paralysis in humans and involves face, arm and leg on one side of the body. Diseases localized in the cortex, the cerebral white matter (corona radiata) and the internal capsule usually manifest themselves by weakness or paralysis of the face, the arm and the leg on the opposite side. In the causation of hemiplegia, vascular diseases of cerebrum and brainstem exceed all others in frequency. Trauma ranks second, and other important causes are brain tumor, encephalitis or abscess and demyelinating diseases.