cerebral palsy

Question 1

what is CP

Answer 1

NDD
- occurs during fetal development or very young kids
- due to brain injury
- NON progressive (doesnt get worse)

Question 2

what are the early signs of CP

Answer 2

• neurobehavioural signs - hard to calm, can be lethargic, often are very difficult to hold and handle
• ophistotonic posture - body in arched C shape
• muscles contracted
• motor tone and postural difficulties
• aren’t going to meet developmental stages (walking, sitting, lifting head, etc)
• tend to display primitive reflexes for longer than kids without CP (grasping reflexes, etc)

Question 3

what are the three types of CP classification

Answer 3

geographical - where it occurs on the body
physiological - what the symptoms are and how it manifests
GMFCS

Question 4

what is monoplegia

Answer 4

1 affected limb
usually arm

Question 5

what is hemiplegia

Answer 5

2 affected limbs
one side of body affected (same arm same leg)
(think of body cut down the middle)

Question 6

what is diplegia

Answer 6

2 affected limbs
usually both legs (sometimes both arms)
(think of body cut at the waist)

Question 7

what is quadriplegia

Answer 7

all 4 limbs directly affected

Question 8

what is triplegia

Answer 8

3 affected limbs
usually one arm and both legs

Question 9

what are the physiological classifications of CP

Answer 9

spastic (75%) - most common (regional or global involvement)
dyskinetic (15%) - global involvement
ataxic (<5%) - global involvement

Question 10

what are the three types of spastic CP

Answer 10

spastic diplegia- regional involvement
spastic quadriplegia - global involvement
spastic hemiplegia - regional involvement

Question 11

what is the relationship between dyskinetic CP and ID

Answer 11

the more limb invovlement the greater the likelihood of ID

Question 12

what causes spastic CP

Answer 12

damage to the pyramidal tract
(fibres from brainstem to muscles)
- part of the brain that’s responsible for telling the muscles how to move

Question 13

what does spastic CP look like

Answer 13

hypertonia - intense muscle tone (constantly in a state of contraction)
- difficulties walking (tiptoe walking)
- poor reflexes that are overexaggerated
- sometimes mouth and pharynx problems

Question 14

what are the two types of dyskinetic CP

Answer 14

athetoid CP
dystonic/dystonia CP

Question 15

what does non spastic CP (dyskinetic) look like

Answer 15

marked by involuntary muscle contractions and movement
- stiff limbs that are difficult to move
- challenging to make planned mvmts
- made worse with stress
- involuntary mvmts stop during sleep

Question 16

what does athetoid CP look like

Answer 16

involuntary mvmt in arms, legs, and hands

Question 17

what does dystonic CP look like

Answer 17

involuntary mvmts in trunk muscles along with the limbs
- twisted posture - common scoliosis

Question 18

what does ataxic CP look like

Answer 18

no involuntary mvmts
effects balance, posture, and motor skills
- wide walking gait (irregular)
- eyes don’t track properly (can’t track without moving head properly - object manip is hard)