Fetal intracranial cystic lesions

Fetal intracranial cystic lesions can arise from a number of pathologies, including:

Non-tumourous

• fetal arachnoid cyst 
• fetal choroid plexus cyst
• fetal connatal cyst
• fetal porencephalic cyst
• fetal interhemispheric cyst
• fetal subependymal cyst
• dorsal cyst of holoprosencephaly
• Blake pouch cyst
• mega cisterna magna
• multicystic encephalomalacia
• cysts associated with periventricular leukomalacia
• cysts associated with inborn errors of metabolism  
  • Zellweger syndrome: periventricular pseudocysts
  • holocarboxylase synthase deficiency ⁵

Tumourous

• cystic intracranial teratoma
• fetal atypical teratoid-rhabdoid tumor (ATRT)

Mimickers of intracranial cysts

• fetal hydrocephalus
• hydranencephaly
• intra-cranial arteriovenous malformations
  • vein of Galen malformation

Associated conditions

• Aicardi syndrome
• agenesis of the corpus callosum: for fetal interhemispheric cysts
• Dandy-Walker continuum

See also

• fetal intra-abdominal cystic lesions
• intracranial cystic lesions in the perinatal period