Abstract
To evaluate the routine usage of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of brain and estimate the prevalence of brain abnormalities in children presenting to the Neurodevelopment Clinic of Al-Khadra Hospital (NDC-KH), Tripoli, Libya with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). The records of all children with ASD presented to NDC-KH over 4-year period (from January 2009 to December 2012) were reviewed. All MRIs were acquired with a 1.5-T Philips (3-D T1, T2, FLAIR coronal and axial sequences). MRIs were reported to be normal, abnormal or no significant abnormalities by a consultant neuroradiologist. One thousand and seventy-five children were included in the study. Seven hundred and eighty-two children (72.7 %) had an MRI brain of whom 555 (71 %) were boys. 26 children (24 males and 2 females) (3.3 %) demonstrated MRI abnormalities (8 leukodystrophic changes, 4 periventricular leukomalacia, 3 brain atrophy, 2 tuberous sclerosis, 2 vascular changes, 1 pineoblastoma, 1 cerebellar angioma, 1 cerebellar hypoplasia, 3 agenesis of corpus callosum, 1 neuro-epithelial cyst). An unexpectedly high rate of MRI abnormalities was found in the first large series of clinical MRI investigations in children with autism. These results could contribute to further research into the pathogenesis of autistic spectrum disorder.
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Acknowledgments
The authors extend great thanks and appreciation to all the parents for their support and to all those involved in running this study. Thanks to my medical colleagues, senior and junior, for referring these children to the clinic. Thanks also to Dr F. Abouriana, Dr S. Al-Hmadi and Dr Abdul-Salam Abou-Ghrara (Consultant Radiologist) for all their help.
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Zeglam, A.M., Al-Ogab, M.F. & Al-Shaftery, T. MRI or not to MRI! Should brain MRI be a routine investigation in children with autistic spectrum disorders?. Acta Neurol Belg 115, 351–354 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-014-0384-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-014-0384-x