Cerebral palsy

1. What is the definition of cerebral palsy?
2. What are risk factors for CP?
3. What is the most common cause of CP?
4. What are the symptoms of spastic CP?
5. What is dyskinetic CP? What other deficiency is it associated with?

Answers:
1. CP is the result of a nonprogressive lesion to an immature brain (within first three years of life) and is the leading cause of childhood disability.
2. Prenatal intracranial hemorrhage, placental complications, gestational toxins, teratogens, TORCH infections, congenital brain malformations, maternal causes (seizures, hyperthyroidism), socioeconomic factors, reproductive inefficiency, prenatal hypoxia (from mult gestation, maternal bleeding or drug use).
3. Prematurity (birth < 32 weeks, wt < 2500 gm).
4. Hyperreflexia, clonus, Babinski, persistent primitive reflexes, overflow reflexes.
5. Extrapyramidal movement patterns secondary to abnormal regulation of tone, deficits in postural control, and coordination deficits. It is associated with a high incidence of sensorineural hearing loss.