Structural Brain Abnormalities in Childhood Autism

Overview

The first original results of the Motol University Hospital Autistic Interdisciplinary Project arepresented; the structural brain findings were evaluated in a sample of the inpatient children withthe Autistic Spectrum Disorder in 1998 - 2000. 25 patients (21 boys, 4 girls) aged 3 - 26 years (meanage 9.4 years) were examined. Childhood autism was diagnosed in 15 children (60%), atypicalautism in 5 children (20%), the Asperger’s syndrome in 2 children (8%), mental retardation withautistic symptoms in 2 children (8%) and Pervasive development disorder, unspecified in 1 child(4%). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were performed in 22 patients (88%) and computertomography (CT) scans in 3 patients (68%); all the measurements were planimetric. No brainabnormalities were found in 17 patients (68%); the abnormalities from normal brain structurewere detected in 8 patients (32 %). There were only non-specific abnormalities in all the cases:structural cerebellar abnormalities were detected in 3 children (12%) (vermal hypoplasia in 2cases, mild cortical cerebellar atrophy in 1 case); glial changes in 3 children (12%) (bilateral, bothoccipital and frontal, periventricular and corticosubcortical); brain cysts in 3 children (12%)(arachnoid bitemporal cysts, a small encephalomalacious cyst laterally from the trigonum of thelateral ventricle, pineal cyst) and megacisterna magna in 1 child (4%).

Key words:
childhood autism, atypical autism, Asperger’s syndrome, neuroimaging, magneticresonance imaging, computer tomography, brain, cerebellum, brainstem, corpus callosum, amygdala, hippocampus, basal ganglia