Origins of cerebral palsy.
Analyses were undertaken to determine the causes of cerebral palsy in a prospective study of 43,437 full-term children. Presumed causes were found for about 71% of the 34 quadriplegic and 40% of the 116 nonquadriplegic patients with cerebral palsy. Risk estimates based on predictive models, adjusted for multiple factors, suggest that 53% of the quadriplegic patients with cerebral palsy could be attributed to congenital disorders, 14% to birth asphyxia, and 8% to other identified disorders. Thirty-five percent of the nonquadriplegic patients with cerebral palsy could be attributed to congenital disorders and 6% to other disorders. In the victims of cerebral palsy, characteristic consequences of birth asphyxia were more often the result of nonasphyxial disorders. These included meconium in the amniotic fluid, low 10-minute Apgar scores, neonatal apnea spells, seizures, persisting neurologic abnormalities, and slow head growth after birth.
Naeye
R L
RL
Department of Pathology, M. S. Hershey Medical Center, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey 17033.
Peters
E C
EC
Bartholomew
M
M
Landis
J R
JR
D000368:Aged; D000653:Amniotic Fluid / Q000032:analysis; D001034:Apgar Score; D001238:Asphyxia Neonatorum / Q000150:complications; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000150:complications; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008470:Meconium; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors