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Cerebral Palsy

Brain

Brain

Introduction

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a movement disorder that results from a non-progressive lesion of motor pathways. Although the lesion does not progress, the symptoms appear gradually, as the child does not develop along normal trends – i.e. it is not noticed at birth as the child is not expected to be able to perform various motor movements, but as the child ages, normal development does not occur, and thus the symptoms become more pronounced.

Although often described as a movement/posture disorder, it is often accompanied by learning difficulties, and other signs of developmental delay

The specific symptoms will depend on where the lesion is. It can affect any part of the brain – e.g. cerebellar disorder, basal ganglia disorder, cerebral etc etc. The distribution of other symptoms is:

Epidemiology

Aetiology

80% antenatal causes:

10% hypoxic ischaemic birth injury

10% post-natal

Presentation

May present at birth, and most commonly seen in infancy as motor milestones are missed, but sometime diagnosis may be delayed. It is not unknown for diagnosis to be as late as age 6-8 in some cases.

Signs

Spastic Cerebral Palsy

UMN lesions in corticospinal or pyramidal tract
UMN signs

 

Types of spastic cerebral palsy:

Hemiplegic

Quadriplegic

Diplegic

Ataxic Hypotonic Cerebral Palsy

Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy

Management

There is no curative treatment. An early diagnosis can be useful to help get the necessary support (and funding) in place. Once the child has been diagnosed, then their care is taken care of by a type of MDT known as the CDS (child development services). This essentially comprises paediatricians, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, psychologists, dieticians etc.
Some children get ‘statemented’. This is a special status awarded to some special needs children, and allows extra funding for their educational and other needs – e.g. it might allow the parents funding to adapt the house with handrails, and might provide funding for a carer during school etc.
Specific management steps might involve:

References

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