Clinical characteristics of 50 cases of cerebral cystic necrosis in children

Objective: To investigate the clinical characteristics and pathogenic causes of cerebral cystic necrosis in children. Methods: The clinical data of 50 patients with cerebral cystic necrosis who were treated in West China Second Hospital of Sichuan University from January 2008 to December 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Among the 50 cases of cerebral cystic necrosis, the primary disease were as follows: preterm birth in 5 cases, hypoxia-ischemia in 19 cases, intracranial infection in 13 cases, brain trauma and hemorrhage in 14 cases, cerebral infarction in 4 cases, congenital hereditary disease in 3 cases, and low blood pressure combined with hypoglycemiain in 1 case. The mean time from onset to detection of cystic necrosis was 70.14±6.0 days. The clinical manifestations included: language and motor retardation(33 cases), epilepsy(31 cases), dystonia(27 cases), limb paralysis(15 cases), and audio-visual impairment(5 cases). The patients whose primary disease was hypoxia-ischemia showed a higher proportion of abnormal muscle tone, and those whose primary disease was cerebral infarction had a higher proportion of paralysis, and the difference was statistically significant. Conclusions: Brain Cystic necrosis in children is mostly caused by hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, intracranial infection and cerebral hemorrhage, mainly manifested as psychomotor retardation, epilepsy and abnormal muscle tone. Crainal MRI is an important method for evaluating cystic necrosis of the brain.
Keywords: Cystic necrosis; Dystonia; Cerebral infarction; Brain magnetic resonance