What are the characteristics of spastic cerebral palsy?

Spastic CP is characterized by jerky movements, muscle tightness and joint stiffness. This type of cerebral palsy often makes simple tasks more challenging, such as walking or picking up small objects. Some children with spastic CP also develop co-occurring conditions as a result of their brain injury.

1. What is the most common type of spastic cerebral palsy?
2. What happens spastic cerebral palsy?
3. What are the 3 main types of cerebral palsy?
4. When is spastic cerebral palsy diagnosed?
5. What does spastic cerebral palsy look like in infants?
6. What condition is spastic?
7. Does spasticity affect speech?
8. How do you know you have cerebral palsy?
9. What causes spastic cerebral palsy?
10. What is the main cause of cerebral palsy?
11. What is the rarest form of cerebral palsy?
12. Which is another term for spastic cerebral palsy?
13. What is considered severe cerebral palsy?

What is the most common type of spastic cerebral palsy?

The most common type of mixed CP is spastic-dyskinetic CP.

What happens spastic cerebral palsy?

Spastic cerebral palsy is the most common type of cerebral palsy. The muscles of people with spastic cerebral palsy feel stiff and their movements may look stiff and jerky. Spasticity is a form of hypertonia, or increased muscle tone. This results in stiff muscles which can make movement difficult or even impossible.

What are the 3 main types of cerebral palsy?

There are several different types of cerebral palsy — spastic, ataxic, athetoid, hypotonic, and mixed cerebral palsy. These conditions are classified based on mobility limitations and affected body parts. Each type can vary in severity, symptoms, and treatment.

When is spastic cerebral palsy diagnosed?

Most children with spastic cerebral palsy are diagnosed in the first 2 years of life. Health care providers look for signs of CP if a baby is born early or has another health problem that's associated with CP. No single test can diagnose spastic CP.

What does spastic cerebral palsy look like in infants?

Babies with cerebral palsy are often slow to roll over, sit, crawl, or walk, and may look weak and have poor head position.

What condition is spastic?

Spasticity is a condition in which muscles stiffen or tighten, preventing normal fluid movement. The muscles remain contracted and resist being stretched, thus affecting movement, speech and gait.

Does spasticity affect speech?

Spasticity may also affect speech. Severe, long-term spasticity may lead to contracture of muscles. This can reduce range of motion or leave the joints bent.

How do you know you have cerebral palsy?

Specialists might suggest brain imaging tests, such as x-ray computed tomography (CT scan) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An electroencephalogram (EEG), genetic testing, or metabolic testing, or a combination of these, also might be done. CP generally is diagnosed during the first or second year after birth.

What causes spastic cerebral palsy?

Spastic cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the motor cortex and the pyramidal tracts of the brain, which connect the motor cortex to the spinal cord. Understanding the function of the motor cortex and pyramidal tracts helps to explain how damage to these systems affects movement in those with spastic CP.

What is the main cause of cerebral palsy?

Cerebral palsy is caused by damage or abnormal development in the parts of the brain that control movement. These events can happen before, during, or shortly after birth or in the first few years of life, when the brain is still developing.

What is the rarest form of cerebral palsy?

Ataxic cerebral palsy is characterized by a lack of coordination and order. It is the rarest type of the condition, appearing in 5% to 10% of all people with cerebral palsy. Symptoms of ataxic cerebral palsy include: Poor coordination.

Which is another term for spastic cerebral palsy?

Such classifications include spastic diplegia, spastic hemiplegia, spastic quadriplegia, and in cases of single limb involvement, spastic monoplegia. Spastic cerebral palsy affects the motor cortex of the brain, a specific portion of the cerebral cortex responsible for the planning and completion of voluntary movement.

What is considered severe cerebral palsy?

Severe motor issues for children with severe cerebral palsy typically means that they are likely on level four or five of the Gross Motor Function Classification System, or GMFCS, which describes five levels of mobility.