PubMed · 14931663
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1952-01-17. [Spasticity and so-called spastic children].. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14931663/
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UNLABELLED: Iatrogenic fetal reduction is undertaken to try and improve the outcome of multiple pregnancies by reducing the rate of severe preterm delivery. In twin pregnancies, however, spontaneous death of one of the fetuses is associated with increased risk of cerebral palsy (CP) in the survivor. The aim of this study was to determine whether iatrogenic fetal reduction might also increase the prevalence of CP. The database of a tertiary fetal medicine unit was interrogated to identify women with trichorionic triplet pregnancies who had either given birth to three live infants or two live infants following selective fetal reduction. A questionnaire was sent to the women's general practitioners asking them to report whether any of the children had CP. The results of the questionnaire revealed that the CP prevalence (13.8 per 1000) of 72 children from trichorionic triplet pregnancies reduced to twins by selective termination was similar to that of 111 children from trichorionic triplet pregnancies with no loss (18 per 1000), but the pregnancies with selective termination delivered at a later gestation (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: a lower cerebral palsy rate might have been expected in the pregnancies with selective termination given that they were delivered at a later gestational age; these data, therefore, emphasise the importance of further investigating the impact of selective reduction on the prevalence of cerebral palsy.
Cerebral palsy, a range of non-progressive syndromes of posture and motor impairment, is a common cause of disability in childhood. The disorder results from various insults to different areas within the developing nervous system, which partly explains the variability of clinical findings. Management options include physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapy, orthotics, device-assisted modalities, pharmacological intervention, and orthopaedic and neurosurgical procedures. Since 1980, modification of spasticity by means of orally administered drugs, intramuscular chemodenervation agents (alcohol, phenol, botulinum toxin A), intrathecally administered drugs (baclofen), and surgery (neurectomy, rhizotomy) has become more frequent. Family-directed use of holistic approaches for their children with cerebral palsy includes the widespread adoption of complementary and alternative therapies; however, the prevalence of their use and the cost of these options are unknown. Traditional medical techniques (physiotherapy, bracing, and orthopaedic musculoskeletal surgery) remain the mainstay of treatment strategies at this time. This seminar addresses only the musculoskeletal issues associated with cerebral palsy and only indirectly discusses the cognitive, medical, and social issues associated with this diagnosis.