Acute hemiplegia of infancy and childhood in Addis Ababa: report on 50 followed up cases.

From 1978 to 1982, 50 consecutive cases of acute infantile and childhood hemiplegias were followed up at our Neurology clinic. Fifteen cases (30%) were below the age of two years and 34 cases under five years of age (68%). Our youngest patient was six months and the oldest 13 1/2 years. The male to female ratio was 1.3:1. An acute onset of hemiplegia was noted in 64% of cases. A right side hemiplegia was more common than a left (1.5:1). Idiopathic cases, where no clinical associations could be made, bacterial meningitis, head traumas, and encephalitis were the four leading causes of acute hemiplegias in our series. (A complete recovery was noted in 82% of cases without associated clinical causes.) Subsequent development of epilepsy was noted in 10% of cases at follow-up.