title: Bilateral spastic cerebral palsy--a collaborative study between southwest Germany and western Sweden. III: Aetiology.
abstract: In this third report from the collaborative study of children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy born between 1975 and 1986, aetiology was analysed. Evidence for a prenatal aetiology increased with gestational age, whereas evidence for a peri-/neonatal aetiology decreased. The largest subgroup, the leg-dominated subtype, showed the same distribution of aetiology as the total group. A prenatal aetiology was found mainly among term and moderately preterm children with a four-limb-dominated subtype; a peri-/neonatal aetiology among very preterm children with a three- or four-limb-dominated subtype or among term children with a dyskinetic-spastic subtype. The findings support the hypothesis generated from the authors' epidemiological results of a peri-/neonatal aetiology being predominant among preterm, and a prenatal aetiology among term, children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Neurology, University of Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Krägeloh-Mann
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hagberg
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Meisner
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Haas
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Eeg-Olofsson
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Selbmann
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hagberg
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Michaelis
mesh_terms: D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D007839:Functional Laterality; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology