MRI of porencephalic cyst associated with cerebral hemiatrophy

Whereport seven cases of porencephalic cyst associated with cerebral hemiatrophy. One case was due to an unknown prenatal factor. One case had maternal injury and shock, which presumably caused temporary fetal asphyxia. One case had perinatal asphyxia. The other four cases had infantile head injury; of these, two cases had serial follow-up computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that verified the evidence of post-traumatic infarction of the brain, and then caused porencephaly with cerebral hemiatrophy. In the other two cases, MRI clearly showed ulegyria on the side of the lesion, which is evidence of remote hypoxic ischemic damage. These cases lead us to believe that hypoxic ischemic damage of the brain is the etiology of porencephalic cyst when associated with cerebral hemiatrophy or when adjacent ulegyria is present.Correspondence to: W.-C. Shen