Twenty-two neonates (11 term and 11 preterm) with predominantly unilateral hemispheric lesions on ultrasound were re-examined clinically and by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at between two and nine years of age. The aim was to correlate early ultrasound and late MRI findings with the development of hemiplegia. At follow-up, five children were normal and 15 had hemiplegia, which was mild in seven and moderate in 10. The presence or absence of hemiplegia, or its severity, could not be predicted from either early ultrasound or later MRI appearances.