RESUMO
Six eight children suffering from acute ataxia at Al-Mansoor pediatrics Teachign Hospital for the period starting from the 1st of April 1989 till the end of April 1995 were analyzed. Their ages were between 6mo. - 12yr., twenty one cases [30.8%] were acute cerebellar ataxia, 12 [17.6% were Guillain Barre syndrome, 12 [17.6%], Brain tumor, 10 [14.7%] encephalitis, 5 [7.3%] drug poisoning, 5 [7.3%] meningitis, and 1 [1.4%] for each cerebellar infarction, epilepsy and head injury. In order to obtain more informations on the variable cases and aspects of ataxia different groups were analyzed according to: 1- Age, mean age for all cases was 4.9 yr. The mean age for males was 4.4 yr. and for females was 5.4 yr. 2- Sex, females seemed to be more affected than males. Males: females ratio 1:1.3. 3- Causes, the most frequent causes of acute ataxia in children were acute cerebellar ataxia, Guillain Barre syndrome, brain tumors and encephalitis