Vijay Kumar K. R1, Vedaraju K. S2, Vijayaraghavachari T. V3
BACKGROUND
Central nervous system (CNS) malformations constitute an important spectrum of disorders and more than 2,000 malformations have been described. Approximately 75% of fetal deaths, 40% of infant deaths and 0.5% of deaths in children under one year of age are caused by CNS malformations. In developing countries like India, there are no adequate statistics regarding the incidence and type of brain malformations. This study has been undertaken to analyse the incidence and spectrum of routinely encountered congenital malformations of brain.
OBJECTIVE
To analyse the entire spectrum of all important and routinely encountered congenital malformations and the proportional distribution of the various malformations of the brain in a tertiary care institute in South India
METHODS AND MATERIALS
All MRI brain examinations at our hospital over a period of one year were retrospectively reviewed and analysed by sex, age at presentation, type of congenital cerebral malformation, and other associated congenital cerebral malformations.
RESULTS
This study included 52 patients. The total number of brain malformations identified in these patients was 60. The age of patients at first MRI imaging ranged from 3 days to 60 years. There were 28 males and 24 females. The most common malformations were corpus callosum dysgenesis (18%), posterior fossa malformations (17%) and neural tube closure defects (15%). Eight patients (15.3%) had more than one congenital brain malformation.
CONCLUSION
Congenital malformations of the brain are both complex and multiple. MRI plays an important role in reaching the correct diagnosis necessary for optimum management of these unfortunate conditions.
