Ischemic lesion ; Basal ganglia ; Children ; Minor head injury
Abstract
The authors reviewed the cases of 12 children with unilateral motor weakness after minor head injury who were treated between 1990 and 1996. Eight were boys and four were girls, and all were less than seven years old (range, 8 month to 6years) ; unilateral weakness developed immediately after an apparently minor head injury. Computed tomography and MR scanning disclosed an ischemic lesion at one side of the basal ganglia. Most children recovered. The mechanism by which this ischemic lesion develops at the basal ganglia is not known. In children, however the angle between the middle cerebral artery and lateral perforating vessels is more acute than in the adult, and we believe that after minor head injury, stretching and distorting the angle of these perforating branches may lead to'unknown vessel change', with a consequent decrease in local blood flow. The end result is an ischemic lesion in the basal ganglia.