Porencephaly Simulating Subdural Hematoma In Childhood

Abstract

Porencephaly, a well-recognized pathological entity, has been difficult to recognize clinically. Multiple etiologies and locations of the porencephalic cysts, resulting in varied clinical manifestations, have made clinical recognition difficult. It is the purpose of this paper to present three cases of porencephaly seen at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center during a six-month period, whose manifestations were sufficiently similar to constitute a clinically identifiable syndrome. The porencephaly in these children was secondary to thrombosis of a major cerebral artery. Derived from the Latin word porus, meaning opening, porencephaly was first used by Heschl¹ to describe defects in the cerebral mantel communicating with both the ventricular system and the subarachnoid space. Through usage, the term porencephaly now includes single or multiple cystic cavities in the brain which are not neoplastic in origin, may communicate with either the ventricular system or the subarachnoid space, or have no communication. Heschl¹ originally described porencephaly