Computed tomographic study of children with classic autism.

Computed tomographic (CT) scans were obtained for nine autistic boys aged between 9 and 16 years. All were considered to have classic childhood autism of unequivocal diagnosis, with symptoms present from infancy, and were functioning in the borderline or normal level of intelligence. They had performed poorly on tests purported to measure left hemispheric functions. There was no sign of abnormality of any kind on the CT scans or any asymmetry that might be related to lateralized cognitive functions. It is suggested that earlier reported abnormalities are a function of the inclusion of patients with a heterogeneous collection of disorders in the tested sample.