Congenital muscular dystrophy and cerebral CT scan anomalies. Results of a collaborative study of the Société de Neurologie Infantile.

We present the results of a collaborative study on the association of congenital muscular dystrophy with central nervous system anomalies revealed by CT scan investigation of 10 patients. In seven children, an abnormal hypodensity of the cerebral white matter is found; in four of these patients, this radiological anomaly is either isolated, or associated with a moderate intellectual impairment; in one case, severe mental retardation and ocular changes had occurred; in the other two cases, the muscular disease was progressing slowly, in association with microcephaly, epilepsy, and moderate mental retardation. Three children were afflicted with a severe early encephalopathy and congenital muscular dystrophy, and presented signs of cortical and subcortical atrophy on CT scan. Two of these patients corresponded to different types of cerebro-ocular dysplasia-muscular dystrophy syndromes, and the third patient of Fukuyama's congenital muscular dystrophy. These observations are discussed and compared with those reported in the literature. The authors emphasize the need to investigate possible cerebral CT scan anomalies in congenital muscular dystrophies, and to look for muscular changes in some prenatal encephalopathies.