The nation's leading supporter of biomedical research on disorders of the brain and nervous system. Porencephaly is an extremely rare disorder of the central nervous system involving cysts or cavities in a cerebral hemisphere. The cysts or cavities are usually the remnants of destructive lesions, but are sometimes the result of abnormal development. The disorder can occur before or after birth.
Most infants show symptoms of the disorder shortly after birth.
Diagnosis is usually made before age 1. Treatment may include physical therapy, medication for seizure disorders, and a shunt for hydrocephalus. The prognosis for individuals with porencephaly varies according to the location and extent of the lesions. Some patients with this disorder may develop only minor neurological problems and have normal intelligence, while others may be severely disabled. Others may die before the second decade of life.