The prevalence of pineal cyst in patients with cerebral palsy

Abstract

PURPOSEPineal cysts are common incidental findings during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. The etiology of pine-al cyst development is still unclear. We aimed to determine whether there is an association between periventricular leu-komalacia and pineal cyst prevalence. METHODSClinical and MRI data of 201 patients with periventricular leu-komalacia (110 female, 91 male; mean age, 6 years; range, 2-18 years) and 687 control patients (355 female, 332 male; mean age, 6 years ? range, 2-18 years) who did not have any evidence of periventricular leukomalacia were independent-ly evaluated by two radiologists for presence or absence of pineal cyst. RESULTSPineal cysts were detected in 32.3% of the study group (65/201) and 8.4% of the control group (58/687) (P < 0.001). Patients with periventricular leukomalacia were more likely to have a pineal cyst. In terms of pineal cyst detection on MRI, interobserver reliability was high between the two radiologists. CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of pineal cysts is higher in patients with periventricular leukomalacia. We suggest that an ischemic process may have a role in the etiopathogenesis of pineal cyst development.