The Evaluation of Arachnoid Cyst in Childhood

Intracranial arachnoid cysts are non-genetic cavities containing benign, sterile secretions of cerebrospinal fluid surrounded by an arachnoid membrane. The prevalence of arachnoid cysts is unknown in children. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical features of children with arachnoid cysts. We retrospectively reviewed the neuroimaging of 5360 patients aged between 1 months and 18 years, retrospectively. 309 of these patients had arachnoid cyst. The incidence of arachnoid cyst was 5.8%. The male/female ratio was 2: 1, and the mean age was 9.3 ± 5.0 years. The headache was the most common indication for neuroimaging. Arachnoid cysts were most commonly found in the posterior fossa. Cyst size median was found to be larger in patients who had headache complaints and those who had surgery on positive physical examination (p <0.05). In our study, it was determined that arachnoid cysts were a frequent neuroimaging finding in pediatric patients and treatment was not required in the majority of cases. These results, it is important to prevent unnecessary investigations and treatments