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Postnatal Causes of Cerebral Palsy

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Cerebral Palsy

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Abstract

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common motor disability in childhood. The definition of CP provides a framework for clinical diagnosis. However, the underlying clinical presentations and etiologies are widely varied. CP is known to be a manifestation of intrauterine pathologies, intrapartum complications, and injury or illness in the postnatal period. This chapter will focus on the postnatal causes. While there is no strict consensus on exact ages, most literature and current cerebral palsy registries generally include children who have incurred an injury or illness causing motor development problems up to the age of 2 years. A significant number of cases of CP arise in the postnatal period, with approximately half of the cases of postnatal CP caused by infections, and with head injury and medical/surgical vascular episodes noted to be additional significant causative factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nemours/AI duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, USA

    Laura Owens, Eileen Shieh & Abigail Case

  2. Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Laura Owens, Eileen Shieh & Abigail Case

Authors
  1. Laura Owens
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  2. Eileen Shieh
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  3. Abigail Case
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura Owens .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedics, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, USA

    Freeman Miller

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, USA

    Steven Bachrach

  3. Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, USA

    Nancy Lennon

  4. Columbia University, Irving Medical Center, Programs in Physical Therapy, New York, NY, USA

    Margaret E. O'Neil

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Pediatrics (Emeritus), Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, USA

    Steven J. Bachrach

  2. Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Steven J. Bachrach

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Owens, L., Shieh, E., Case, A. (2020). Postnatal Causes of Cerebral Palsy. In: Miller, F., Bachrach, S., Lennon, N., O'Neil, M.E. (eds) Cerebral Palsy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74558-9_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74558-9_7

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74557-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74558-9

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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