What is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a non-progressive disorder of movement and posture due to brain injury or abnormal brain development. CP can occur anytime between fetal development and 3 years of age, and has varying degrees of severity.

What causes Cerebral Palsy?

Although perinatal events such as hypoxia and intracranial hemorrage can cause Cerebral Palsy the majority are due to prenatal events. Brain injuries that occur in the perinatal period are called Congenital Cerebral Palsy, while brain injuries due to meningitis; auto accident etc., that occur after the nursery course are called Acquired Cerebral Palsy.

How is Cerebral Palsy diagnosed?

The most common form, Spastic Cerebral Palsy results from injury to the Pyramidal motor system of the brain. This results in the clinical finding of increase tone (spastisity) and abnormal, or brisk reflexes. If all four extremities are involved it is referred to as Quadriplegia; if one side is involved it is referred to as hemiplegia and if primarily lower extremities are involved bilaterally, it is called Diplegia. The least common form of Cerebral Palsy is the Extrapyramidal form, which presents in infants as Hypotonia with preserved reflexes. If the cerebellum of the brain is injured, two forms evolve, Ataxic CP and Tremor; if the basal ganglion is injured; choreoathetosis is the primary physical finding. The physical features of Extrapyramidal CP may not be present at birth but evolve by about one year of age as the physical manifestations appear delayed due to myelination, neurotransmitter and cell migration maturation. These forms of Cerebral Palsy can be confusing as they seem to have onset between one and two years of age, in reality they are disorders waiting to happen.

How do you treat infants and children with Cerebral Palsy?

Early access to Physical and Occupational therapy are very helpful. California Children's Services referral often gets patients early help especially for families with limited funds. Routine medical follow up is very important, as the children with Cerebral Palsy maybe normal in all other ways, they do however have an increased risk of mental retardation, seizures, vision disturbance; hearing loss and behavioral issues, such as attention deficit. Monitoring these patients and aiding early intervention when any of these problems are identified is of extreme value to the child’s care.

CSSD Division of Neurology