MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING IN CEREBRAL PALSY: CORRELATION BETWEEN IMAGING PATTERNS AND CLINICAL FINDINGS

Abstract

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a neuro-motor disorder that affects various brain
functions including movement, muscle tone and posture. Clinical diagnosis of cerebral palsy
complemented by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can differentiate changes in the
various types of cerebral palsy. Present study was aimed to study correlation between
Magnetic resonance imaging patterns and clinical findings in children with in cerebral palsy.
Material and Methods: Present study was cross-sectional observational study, conducted
in children with a clinical diagnosis of cerebral palsy undergoing magnetic resonance
imaging aged up to 10 years. Results: Among 50 children, mean age was 3.89 ± 2.3 years.
Males to female ratio was 1.63: 1. The mean weight of the child included in the study was
2.4 ± 0.4 kg. The minimum weight included in the study was 1.6 kg, and the maximum
weight was 3.3 kg. Most of the children included in the study were 1.5 to 2.5 kgs (60%).
Most common complaints were abnormal movements (54%) followed by seizure episodes
(50%). Most common type of cerebral palsy in children was diplegia (32%), followed by
quadriplegia and dyskinesia (28%) & hemiplegia (12%). The most common clinical
diagnosis among the children included in the present study was spastic diplegia (28%)
followed by spastic quadriplegia (24%). Commonest MRI findings was periventricular
white matter involvement in 28 children (48%), followed by cerebral cortex involvement
(32%). The most common finding among them was ventricular enlargement in 16 children
(32%) followed by porencephalic cyst formation (10%). The most common MRI diagnosis
among the children included in the present study was periventricular leukomalacia (mild
grade) in 34%. Overall correlation between clinical diagnosis and radiological diagnosis
with MRI modality is 63.2%. Conclusion: MRI findings correlated with Spastic
quadriplegic cerebral palsy (100%), spastic diplegic cerebral palsy (100%) and ataxic type
of cerebral palsy (100%).