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Cerebellar Cysts in Children: a Pattern Recognition Approach

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Abstract

Cerebellar cysts may be seen in selected genetic disorders and acquired anomalies. Here, we review our experience, excluding cystic tumors and parasitic cysts. The pathogenesis is heterogeneous: Cysts may involve/represent normal structures (e.g., Virchow-Robin spaces), be “destructive” (such as in some types of pontocerebellar hypoplasias), “malformative” (such as in some forms of congenital muscular dystrophies and GPR56-related migration disorders), or “disruptive” (such as in some cerebellar dysplasias). The provided checklist may be useful in deciding targeted diagnostic workup.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Asim F. Choudhri, MD, Department of Radiology, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA, for sharing neuroimaging data of one patient.

Conflict of Interest

All coauthors do not report conflicts of interest.

Funding

This work was not supported by grants.

Author Contribution

EB and AP conceptualized the article, and EB drafted the manuscript. All the coauthors critically revised the manuscript for intellectual content and read and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Neurology, University Children’s Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Eugen Boltshauser & Andrea Poretti

  2. Division of Diagnostic Imaging, University Children’s Hospital of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Ianina Scheer

  3. Section of Pediatric Neuroradiology, Division of Pediatric Radiology, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Thierry A. G. M. Huisman & Andrea Poretti

  4. Department of Pediatric Neurology, University Children’s Hospital, Steinwiesstrasse 75, 8032, Zurich, Switzerland

    Eugen Boltshauser

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  1. Eugen Boltshauser
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  2. Ianina Scheer
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  3. Thierry A. G. M. Huisman
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  4. Andrea Poretti
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Correspondence to Eugen Boltshauser.

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Boltshauser, E., Scheer, I., Huisman, T.A.G.M. et al. Cerebellar Cysts in Children: a Pattern Recognition Approach. Cerebellum 14, 308–316 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-014-0633-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-014-0633-9

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