ABSTRACT
Cerebral palsy (CP) is a movement disorder or a deficit in motor function due to a nonprogressive insult to the central nervous system (CNS) that occurs at a time when the brain is in a rapid state of development. Since the CNS insult does not change over time, CP is classified as a static encephalopathy: however, the peripheral effects of the nerve damage do change and progress over time. The insult to the CNS may be due to a wide range of different problems that include, but are not limited to, intrauterine or neonatal infections, exposure to toxins such as maternal use of illicit drugs, hypoxic episodes at the time of birth or shortly thereafter, trauma, genetic and metabolic abnormalities. It is estimated
that approximately 70-80% of these insults occur prenatally and prematurity is the most frequent antecedent cause of CP. Prematurity predisposes the infant to hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, intraventricular hemorrhage, and periventricular leukomalacia, each of which has been associated with the occurrence of CP. The improved survival rate for low and very low birth weight infants is associated with an increase in the rate of CP in these two populations.
