Nov 14 2008
Pregnancy - What Causes Cerebral Palsy?
Cerebral palsy results from damage to certain parts of the developing brain which can occur early in pregnancy when the brain is just starting to form (in about 75 percent of cases), during the birth process as the child passes through the birth canal (in about 5 percent of cases), or after birth in the first few years of life (in about 15 percent of cases). The exact cause of the brain damage is generally never known. Cerebral palsy is not genetic or hereditary.
Following are risk factors for cerebral palsy:
- Premature deliveries. Between 40- to 50-percent of children who develop cerebral palsy were born prematurely. Premature infants are at higher risk because their organs are not yet fully developed, thus increasing the risk of asphyxia and other injury to the brain. Low birth weight from premature births or infants of multiple births is also a risk factor for cerebral palsy.
- Periventricular leukomalacia. An important cause of cerebral palsy is periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) which is characterized by the death of the white matter near the cerebral ventricles due to softening of the brain tissue. It can affect fetuses or newborns. Premature babies are at the greatest risk of the disorder.
- Infections during pregnancy. Infections in the mother, even infections that are not easily detected, may triple the risk of the child developing the disorder, mainly as the result of toxicity to the fetal brain of cytokines that are produced as part of the inflammatory response.
After birth, causes of cerebral palsy include toxins, severe jaundice, lead poisoning, physical brain injury, shaken baby syndrome, incidents involving hypoxia to the brain (such as near drowning), encephalitis, or meningitis. The three most common causes of asphyxia in the young child are: choking on foreign objects such as toys and pieces of food, poisoning, and near drowning.
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