Background: The purpose of this study was to emphasize the clinical and imaging findings of 19 child cases of cerebral hemiatrophy.
Methods: A total of 11 male and eight female patients underwent assessment with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. The patients ranged from 1 to 17 years in age. The evaluated parameters were: location of the lesions, midline structural shift effect, ipsilateral calvarial and parenchymal changes.
Results: Left cerebral hemiatrophy was seen in 14 of the cases while right cerebral hemiatrophy was observed in five cases. Unilateral calvarial thickening was seen in 11 cases, hyperpneumatization of paranasal sinuses in five, and hypoplasia of the middle frontal cranial fossa in three patients. Cerebral peduncle atrophy was noted in seven cases. In total, 11 patients had thalamic atrophy and lentiform nucleus hypoplasia. In one case, cerebral hemiatrophy was associated with ipsilateral large schizencephalic cleft and absence of the septum pellucidum, whereas in another case, there was diffuse cerebellar atrophy associated with cerebral hemiatrophy.
Conclusion: Computed tomography and, in particular, magnetic resonance imaging are the procedures of choice with respect to assessment of the etiology and extent of cerebral parenchymal involvement in cerebral hemiatrophy.