ABSTRACT
This study was carried out to get information on the clinical features of both congenital and acquired hemiplegias, and that from other possible causes. A retrospective evaluation of medical records in 50 children with a diagnosis of hemiplegia from birth up to the age of 15 years during the decade 1980- 1989 was carried out by two paediatric neurologists. Birth trauma only accounted for a half of the cases in the congenital group, with dominant involvement of the right side and predominance of males [both 17:9]. In the acquired group the sex difference was not so obvious [14 males, 10 females], but the right side of the body was also more often affected. The majority of the patients showed a spastic type of hemiparesis [23 of 26 in the congenital group, half of the cases in the acquired group]. Epilepsy was found to be more common in the acquired group [14/24] than in the congenital one [9/26], with partial seizures being more common in the acquired group and generalized types more often found in the congenital group.Neuroradiological investigations revealed abnormalities in 37 patients [mostly atrophies and cysts] and were not helpful etiologically. The final results confirmed that the most common causes in the congenital group were birth trauma or prematurity, while in the acquired group head trauma, postictal condition and stroke were the leading causes