Objective: To evaluate the anomalies of the central nervous system (CNS) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in normal subjects and in syndromic patients.
Methods and material: Seventy-three normal subjects and 50 different syndromic patients with mental retardation (from 3 months to 16 years) were studied utilizing several morphometric parameters (degree of myelination of the white matter, evaluation of liquoral spaces, septo-caudate distance, Evans index, Aboulezz method, and length, width and angles of corpus callosum).
Results: A high frequency of anomalies of the corpus callosum, the Chiari anomaly and alterations either of the white matter or of the ventricular and periencephalic system have been observed.
Conclusion: The authors point out the importance of cerebral MRI in the study of CNS in patients with malformation syndromes. The present research, carried out on a large number of both normal subjects and patients with malformation syndromes, represents one of the first systematic studies in this field.