Cerebral palsy

Children's cerebral palsy (cerebral palsy) is a group of diseases of newborns; Manifested non-progressive motor impairment.

Etiology, pathogenesis. Prenatal pathology, asphyxia in childbirth, birth trauma (hematoma of the parasagittal fissure) are important. The incidence of diseases is 1-2 cases per thousand newborns.

Symptoms, course. The diagnosis of a parasagittal cleft is to be diagnosed by the doctor in the first hours after the birth of the child. Symptoms of it - lethargy, congestion, anisocoria, divergent strabismus, bradycardia. The hematoma is easily removed by puncture through a large fontanel. This procedure is carried out either by a neurosurgeon or by a trained microdiadist. If the hematoma has not been removed in a timely manner, or the causes of the disease are different, then congenital diplegia (Lipl's disease) develops, characterized by weakness and spasticity of the legs. Spasticity in severe cases can completely immobilize the child. Because of the tendency to cross legs there is a gait "by the type of scissors". Hands are much less affected. Cerebellar and subcortical disorders are frequent: ataxia, dystonia, choreoathetosis. With the primary lesion of the cerebellum, hypotension is observed instead of spasticity. With Little's disease, the intellect is in most cases normal (with congenital hemiplegia usually reduced and half of the patients suffer from epileptic attacks). As a rule, children lag behind in physical development. Allocate so-called cerebral dysfunction - a rudimentary variant of cerebral palsy, which is manifested by mild behavioral disorders, scarcely marked motor defects, epileptic episodes, some defects of praxis and gnosis. A similar group consists of the so-called clumsy children, whose training at early stages presents considerable difficulties.

The treatment is based on a multi-year training program. Contractures are corrected surgically. To combat spasticity, Botox treatment is indicated.

Forecast. In severe cases, the child rarely survives to 1-2 years, usually dying from pneumonia. On average, 25% of patients showed significant improvement, in 50% treatment gives more or less pronounced softening of motor defects, in 25% it is ineffective. An important predictive factor is also the degree of intellectual defect.