Cerebral palsy

Cerebral palsy or CP is a group of permanent disorders associated with developmental brain injuries that occur during fetal development, birth, or shortly after birth. It is characterized by a disruption of motor skills, with symptoms such as spasticity, paralysis, or seizures. Cerebral palsy is a form of static encephalopathy. One form of it, spastic diplegia, is sometimes known as Little's disease in the United Kingdom. Properly speaking, the fact that CP does not get better or worse (gait and posture can get worse over time if left untreated) implies that it is a 'condition' (chronic nonprogressive neurological disorder) rather than a 'disease.' The incidence is about 1.5 to 4 per 1000 live births. There is no cure, but therapy has been shown to be helpful in the maintenance of motor functions. While severity varies widely, cerebral palsy ranks among the most costly congenital conditions to manage.

Imaging Findings

Soft Tissue

Soft tissue findings consist largely of decreased muscle mass.

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Bones

In order for bones to attain their normal shape and size, they require the stresses from normal musculature. The osseous findings will therefore mirror the specific muscular deficits in a given patient. The shafts of the bones are often thin (gracile). When compared to these thin shafts (diaphyses) the metaphyses often appear quite enlarged (ballooning). With lack of use, articular cartilage may atrophy, leading to narrowed joint spaces.

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Depending on the degree of spasticity in a given patient, they may exhibit a variety of angular deformities about their joints.

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Vertebral bodies also need vertical gravitational loading forces to develop properly. If a patient with cerebral palsy spends a great deal of time horizontal (in bed) during skeletal maturation, their adult vertebral bodies may be somewhat vertically elongated. Since the horizontal spines of quadrupeds normally appear this way, this finding in humans is sometimes referred to as "caninization".

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