Early diagnosis begins with a medical history and involves using neuroimaging, standardized neurological, and standardized motor assessments that indicate congruent abnormal findings indicative of cerebral palsy. Clinicians should understand the importance of prompt referral to diagnostic-specific early intervention to optimize infant motor and cognitive plasticity, prevent secondary complications, and enhance caregiver well-being.
The Dyskinetic Cerebral Palsy Functional Impact Scale is a new tool useful measuring the functional impact of dyskinesia on children's movements and postures and the perceived impact of dyskinesia on daily activities. It can can help identify priorities for intervention.
This systematic review looks at all available evidence for pharmacological/neurosurgical interventions for managing dystonia in individuals with cerebral palsy to inform the AACPDM care pathway.
Hypotonic CP, also known as hypotonia, is a form of cerebral palsy that causes low muscle tone. In other words, the muscles are overly relaxed and your child may feel floppy.
Mixed types of CP refer to symptoms that don’t correspond to any single type of CP but are a mix of types. For example, a child with mixed CP may have some muscles that are too tight and others that are too relaxed.
Ataxia affects balance and depth perception. Children with ataxia will often have poor coordination and walk unsteadily with a wide-based gait.
The Dystonia Care Pathway was created in 2016 based on best available evidence and is currently under revision. This link will be updated accordingly. The goal of the these Care Pathways is to help Health Care Professionals understand the research evidence on the topic so that they can make clinical decisions for the care of the individual.