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.

Types

Based on the group of muscles involved (typically only used to further describe spastic CP):

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Tetraplegia or Quadriplegia : Involvement of the four limbs, the trunk and the head. The great majority of these individuals will not be able to stand up or walk.
• Diplegia: The four limbs are affected, but lower limbs are more involved than upper limbs. Some of the people with diplegia will be able to walk alone, with orthosis, or by the use such as crutches or walkers.
• Hemiplegia: Only the right side or the left side of the body is involved. People with hemiplegia are the most likely to walk, even though people with the above two types can often walk without assistance, if severity allows.

NOTE: These are not the only 3 types of spastic CP. Occasionally, terms such as monoplegia, paraplegia, triplegia and pentaplegia may be used.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Ataxia: Persons with ataxia have damage to their cerebellum which results in problems with balance, especially while walking. It is the most rare type, occurring in at most 10% of all cases.
• Athetoid or dyskinetic: Persons with this type generally have involuntary body movements. The damage occurs to the extrapyramidal motor system and/or pyramidal tract and to the basal ganglia. It occurs in ~20% of all cases.
• Spastic: Persons with this type have damage to the corticospinal tract, motor cortex, or pyramidal tract. It occurs in ~70% of all cases.

These three types may be found together. In 30% of all cases of cerebral palsy, the spastic form is found with the one of the other types. There are a number of other minor types of cerebral palsy, but these are the most common.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~