Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy

Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy

The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources for Cerebral Palsy includes the 21 symptoms listed below:

• Floppy baby
• Difficulty sucking
• Movement problems
  • Balance difficulty
  • Walking difficulty
  • Involuntary movements
  • Spastic limb paralysis
  • Athetosis (involuntary writhing movements)
  • Difficulty with fine motor control
  • Spastic paralysis
  • Muscle rigidity
• Normal intelligence - some types of cerebral palsy do not cause any mental retardation
• Mental impairment - some types do cause retardation
• Developmental delay
  • Delayed developmental milestones
  • Speech difficulty
  • Speech defects
• Hearing disorders
• Non-progressive - symptoms will not worsen over time
• Seizures
• Epilepsy
• more information...»

Research symptoms & diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy:

• Overview -- Cerebral Palsy
• Diagnostic Tests for Cerebral Palsy
• Home Diagnostic Testing
• Complications -- Cerebral Palsy
• Doctors & Specialists
• Misdiagnosis and Alternative Diagnoses
• Hidden Causes of Cerebral Palsy
• Other Causes -- causes of these or similar symptoms

Cerebral Palsy: Complications

Read information about complications of Cerebral Palsy.

Diagnostic Testing

Diagnostic testing of medical conditions related to Cerebral Palsy:

• Motor skill tests
• Reflex tests
• more tests...»

Research More About Cerebral Palsy

Do I have Cerebral Palsy?

• Cerebral Palsy: Introduction
• Cerebral Palsy: Diagnostic Testing to confirm diagnosis
• Home Diagnostic Testing
• Alternative diagnoses and misdiagnosis for Cerebral Palsy
• Failure to Diagnose Cerebral Palsy
• Hidden Causes of Cerebral Palsy
• How serious is it?
• Treatments for Cerebral Palsy
• More about Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy: Undiagnosed Conditions

Diseases that may be commonly undiagnosed in related medical areas:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Undiagnosed:
  • Adult ADHD -- Undiagnosed - ADHD can be undiagnosed in adults.
  • ADHD -- Undiagnosed
  • Alzheimer Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Migraine -- Undiagnosed
  • Concentration Disorders -- Undiagnosed
  • Stroke -- Undiagnosed
  • Bipolar Disorder -- Undiagnosed
  • Schizophrenia -- Undiagnosed
  • Epilepsy -- Undiagnosed
• more undiagnosed conditions...»

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical tests related to Cerebral Palsy:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Related Home Testing:
  • ADHD -- Home Tests
  • Drug Screening Kits
• more home tests...»

Wrongly Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy?

The list of other diseases or medical conditions that may be on the differential diagnosis list of alternative diagnoses for Cerebral Palsy includes:

• Aromatic amino acid decarboxylase deficiency
• more diagnoses...»

See the full list of 1 alternative diagnoses for Cerebral Palsy

Cerebral Palsy: Research Doctors & Specialists

• Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists):
  • Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists)
  • Pediatric Neurology (Child Brain Specialist)
  • Pediatric Neurosurgery (Child Neurosurgeon)
  • Clinical Neurophysiology
  • Neurodevelopment Disabilities
  • Neurosurgery (Brain Surgery)
  • Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (Nerve/Muscle/Bone Specialists)
  • Neuroradiology
  • Vascular Neurology
  • Neuropathology
  • Otology / Neurotology (Ear/Hearing Specialists)
• Stroke & Vascular Specialists:
  • Vascular Neurology (Brain Blood Vessels)
  • Vascular & Interventional Radiology
  • Vascular Surgery (Blood Vessel Surgeon)
  • Neuropathology (Brain Diagnostics)
• Senior Health Specialists (Geriatrics):
  • Geriatric Medicine (Senior Health Specialist)
  • Geriatric Psychiatry (Senior Mental Health)
• more specialists...»

Research all specialists including ratings, affiliations, and sanctions.

More about symptoms of Cerebral Palsy:

More information about symptoms of Cerebral Palsy and related conditions:

• Other diseases with similar symptoms and common misdiagnoses
• Tests to determine if these are the symptoms of Cerebral Palsy
• Symptoms that may be caused by complications of Cerebral Palsy
• Underlying causes of Cerebral Palsy
• Risk factors for Cerebral Palsy

Other Possible Causes of these Symptoms

Click on any of the symptoms below to see a full list of other causes including diseases, medical conditions, toxins, drug interactions, or drug side effect causes of that symptom.

• Athetosis (involuntary writhing movements) - see all causes of Movement symptoms
• Balance difficulty - see all causes of Balance symptoms
• Delayed developmental milestones - see all causes of Developmental problems
• Developmental delay - see all causes of Developmental problems
• Difficulty sucking - see all causes of Poor feeding
• Difficulty with fine motor control - see all causes of Movement symptoms
• Epilepsy - see all causes of Epilepsy
• Floppy baby - see all causes of Floppy baby
• Hearing disorders - see all causes of Hearing impairment
• Involuntary movements - see all causes of Involuntary movements
• Mental impairment - see all causes of Cognitive impairment
• Movement problems - see all causes of Movement symptoms
• Muscle rigidity - see all causes of Muscle rigidity
• Non-progressive
• Normal intelligence - see all causes of Cognitive impairment
• Seizures - see all causes of Seizures
• Spastic limb paralysis - see all causes of Paralysis symptoms
• Spastic paralysis - see all causes of Spastic paralysis
• Speech defects - see all causes of Speech symptoms
• Speech difficulty - see all causes of Speech symptoms
• Walking difficulty - see all causes of Walking symptoms

Medical Books Online about Cerebral Palsy

Medical Books Excerpts Excerpts of published medical book chapters related to Cerebral Palsy are available from published medical books for more detailed information about Cerebral Palsy.

Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

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Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy: Online Medical Books

16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Review excerpts from medical books online, free, without registration, for more information about the symptoms of Cerebral Palsy.

Cerebral palsy: Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

Spastic cerebral palsy is characterized by hyperactive deep tendon reflexes, increased stretch reflexes, rapid alternating muscle contraction and relaxation, muscle weakness, underdevelopment of affected limbs, muscle contraction in response to manipulation, and a tendency to contractures. Typically, a child with spastic CP walks on his toes with a scissors gait, crossing one foot in front of the other.

In athetoid cerebral palsy, involuntary movements — grimacing, wormlike writhing, dystonia, and sharp jerks — impair voluntary movement. Usually, these involuntary movements affect the arms more severely than the legs; involuntary facial movements may make speech difficult. These athetoid movements become more severe during stress, decrease with relaxation, and disappear entirely during sleep.

Ataxic cerebral palsy is characterized by disturbed balance, incoordination (especially of the arms), hypoactive reflexes, nystagmus, muscle weakness, tremor, lack of leg movement during infancy, and a wide gait as the child begins to walk. Ataxia makes sudden or fine movements almost impossible.

Some children with CP display a combination of these clinical features. In most, impaired motor function makes eating (especially swallowing) difficult and retards growth and development. Up to 40% of these children are mentally retarded, about 25% have seizure disorders, and about 80% have impaired speech. Many also have dental abnormalities, vision and hearing defects, and reading disabilities.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005

Cerebral palsy: Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)

Each type of cerebral palsy typically produces a distinctive set of symptoms, although some children display a mixed form of the disease.

Spastic cerebral palsy

Spastic cerebral palsy is the predominant form, affecting about 70% of patients. This form of the disease is characterized by hyperactive deep tendon reflexes, increased stretch reflexes, rapid alternating muscle contraction and relaxation, muscle weakness, underdevelopment of affected limbs, muscle contraction in response to manipulation, and a tendency toward contractures. A child with spastic cerebral palsy typically walks on his toes with a scissors gait, crossing one foot in front of the other.

Athetoid cerebral palsy

Affecting about 20% of patients, athetoid cerebral palsy causes involuntary movements —grimacing, wormlike writhing, dystonia, and sharp jerks —that impair voluntary movement. Usually, these involuntary movements affect the arms more severely than the legs; involuntary facial movements may make speech difficult. These athetoid movements become more severe during stress, decrease with relaxation, and disappear entirely during sleep.

Ataxic cerebral palsy

Roughly 10% of patients have ataxic cerebral palsy. It’s characterized by disturbed balance, incoordination (especially of the arms), hypoactive reflexes, nystagmus, muscle weakness, tremor (also intention tremor), lack of leg movement during infancy, and a wide gait as the child begins to walk. Ataxia makes sudden or fine movements almost impossible.

Mixed form

Some children with cerebral palsy display a combination of signs and symptoms. In most, impaired motor function makes eating, especially swallowing, difficult and retards growth and development. Up to 40% of these children are mentally retarded, about 25% have seizure disorders, and about 80% have impaired speech. Many also have dental abnormalities, vision and hearing defects, and reading disabilities.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003

Remember that the persistence of primitive reflexes is a sign that there is damage to the central nervoussystem (CNS), specifically, a lack of high-level control necessitating a workup for cerebral palsy (CP): Clinical Presentations of Cerebral Palsy
(Avoiding Common Pediatric Errors)

• Abnormal muscle tone is the most frequently observed symptom. The abnormalitiesmay range from hypo-to hypertonic depending on themuscular resistance to passive movements.
• A definite hand preference before age 1 year is common (especially in patients with hemiplegia).
• An asymmetric crawl or failure to crawl
• Growth delay
• Joint contractures secondary to spastic muscles
• Persistent primitive reflexes: Examples such as Moro reflex, asymmetric tonic neck, symmetric tonic neck, palmar grasp, tonic labyrinthine, foot placement, are noted. A Moro reflex and a tonic labyrinthine should extinguish by the time the infant is aged 4 to 6 months; palmar grasp, by 5 to 6 months; asymmetric and symmetric tonic neck, by 6 to 7 months; and foot placement, before 12 months.

Table 1.1 Diagnostic Studies for Cerebral Palsy Laboratory Studies

• Thyroid studies
• Lactate level
• Pyruvate level
• Organic and amino acids
• Chromosomes
• Cerebrospinal protein: Levels may assist in determining asphyxia in the neonatal period. Protein levels can be elevated along with an elevated lactate to pyruvate ratio. Imaging Studies
• CT provides diagnostic information for congenital malformations, intracranial hemorrhage, and periventricular leukomalacia.
• MRI is most useful after 2 to 3 weeks of life. MRI is the best study for assessing white matter disease in an older child.
• Evoked potentials are used to evaluate the anatomic pathways of the auditory and visual systems. CT, computed tomography; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.

» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »

Source: Avoiding Common Pediatric Errors, 2008

Article Excerpts About Symptoms of Cerebral Palsy:

NINDS Cerebral Palsy Information Page: NINDS (Excerpt)

Symptoms of cerebral palsy include difficulty with fine motor tasks (such as writing or using scissors), difficulty maintaining balance or walking, involuntary movements. The symptoms differ from person to person and may change over time. Some people with cerebral palsy are also affected by other medical disorders, including seizures or mental impairment, but cerebral palsy does not always cause profound handicap. Early signs of cerebral palsy usually appear before 3 years of age. Infants with cerebral palsy are frequently slow to reach developmental milestones such as learning to roll over, sit, crawl, smile, or walk. Cerebral palsy may be congenital or acquired after birth. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Cerebral Palsy Information Page: NINDS)

NINDS Cerebral Palsy Information Page: NINDS (Excerpt)

Although its symptoms may change over time, cerebral palsy by definition is not progressive, so if a patient shows increased impairment, the problem may be something other than cerebral palsy. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Cerebral Palsy Information Page: NINDS)

Cerebral Palsy as a Cause of Symptoms or Medical Conditions

When considering symptoms of Cerebral Palsy, it is also important to consider Cerebral Palsy as a possible cause of other medical conditions. The Disease Database lists the following medical conditions that Cerebral Palsy may cause:

• Ataxia
• Cerebellar syndrome
• Choreoathetosis
• Contractures
• Dysphonia
• Hypotonia (skeletal muscle)
• Incontinence, urine
• Sensorineural hearing loss
• Spastic ataxia
• Upper motor neurone lesion

Medical articles and books on symptoms:

These general reference articles may be of interest in relation to medical signs and symptoms of disease in general:

• Diagnostic Testing for a Diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy
• Research Alternative Diagnoses for Cerebral Palsy
• How serious is Cerebral Palsy?
• More about Cerebral Palsy
• Online Diagnosis
• Self Diagnosis Pitfalls
• Pitfalls of Online Diagnosis
• Symptoms of the Silent Killer Diseases
• Lesser known silent killer diseases
• Books on signs and symptoms

Full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis

About signs and symptoms of Cerebral Palsy:

The symptom information on this page attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of Cerebral Palsy. This signs and symptoms information for Cerebral Palsy has been gathered from various sources, may not be fully accurate, and may not be the full list of Cerebral Palsy signs or Cerebral Palsy symptoms. Furthermore, signs and symptoms of Cerebral Palsy may vary on an individual basis for each patient. Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they are indeed Cerebral Palsy symptoms.