Clinical Manifestations of Cerebrovascular Hypoplasias in Childhood

Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyze cerebrovascular hypoplasia in childhood and its clinical manifestations in a clinical population of 205 children aged 3 to 14 years. Cerebrovascular hypoplasias were diagnosed using angiography (n=63), magnetic resonance angiography, and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography. Hypoplasias were localized in the internal carotid artery in 41.9% of patients, in the middle cerebral artery in 54.1%, the anterior cerebral artery in 1.0%, and in the vertebro-basilar system in 3.0%. Clinical manifestations included transient ischemic attacks (21% of patients), cerebral infarcts (17%), progressive unilateral cerebral hemisphere atrophy (1.0%), focal and secondary generalized epileptic seizures (56.1%), and migraine-like headache (4.9%). Hypoplasias of the internal carotid artery and middle cerebral artery manifested as focal and secondary generalized epileptic seizures, transient ischemic attacks, cerebral infarcts, migraine-like headache, and progressive unilateral cerebral hemisphere atrophy, in descending order of frequency. Hypoplasias in the anterior cerebral artery or the basilar artery caused cerebral infarcts, and hypoplasias in the vertebral arteries caused transient ischemic attacks. This article discusses the pathophysiology of ischemia in the territory of the hypoplastic cerebral artery in childhood, as well as possibilities for noninvasive neuroimaging for diagnosis of cerebrovascular hypoplasias. (J Child Neurol 2000;15:166-171).

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