THE CLINICAL AND BRAIN CT FEATURES OF OLD INFANTILE HEMIPLEGIA

Forty-eight consecutive patients with childhood hemiplegia were clinic ally and radiologically evaluated several years after the onset of the hemiplegia. A prior history of an acute febrile illness or convulsive status epilepticus preceding the onset was uncommon (23%). Epilepsy w as the commonest (73%) complication of this syndrome but mental retard ation was also uncommon. Eighty per cent of the epileptic patients had their first attack before the age of 10 years. The seizure type was s imple partial motor epilepsy with or without secondary generalization in 77%. The CT scan showed contralateral cerebral hemiatrophy in 27 pa tients (56%). Ten of these had infarct in the atrophied hemisphere. Ov erall, cerebral infarction was present in 17 patients (35%). Five pati ents had intracranial calcified masses, three of which were most proba bly granulomata.