ABSTRACT
The cerebral palsies are a heterogeneous group of conditions occurring in young children, leading to a nonprogressive motor deficit. The natural history varies with the type of cerebral palsy present, but certain features are common to all types and are related to the normal maturational pattern of the infant or child. Because of the clinically and etiologically heterogeneous nature of the cerebral palsies a large variety of different classifications have been introduced. In clinical even more than in topographical descriptions there are important intra- and inter-observer variations. Terms such as ataxia and incoordination; spasticity and rigidity. Spastic hemiplegia is disproportionately represented in postnatal cases, although other types are found, but again these proportions depend on the definitions used and the hazards most common in any given society. The obviously prenatal causes described by the Swedish group included several different subgroups.
