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Cerebral Palsy pp 1–13Cite as

Cerebral Palsy and the Relationship to Prematurity

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Abstract

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common cause of childhood-onset, lifelong physical disability in most countries around the world. Prematurity is the leading identifiable risk factor of cerebral palsy, and is defined as birth occurring prior to 37 weeks’ gestation. Premature infants are at a much higher risk for developing CP than full-term infants, and the risk increases as gestational age and birthweight decreases. Despite technological advances in neonatal care over the past several decades, cerebral palsy remains a major neurologic sequela among extremely low birth weight survivors, affecting 9–17% of survivors.

Antenatal and perinatal factors that influence the risk of CP include gestational age at delivery, birth weight, presence of multiple gestation, and chorioamnionitis. Following delivery, there are a number of risk factors that contribute to a premature infant’s development of CP. These include intraventricular hemorrhage, periventricular leukomalacia, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, presence of a patent ductus arteriosus, necrotizing enterocolitis, hyperbilirubinemia, hypocarbia, neonatal sepsis, hypoxia, and apnea. Interventions to reduce the risk of CP include antenatal glucocorticoid administration, magnesium sulfate for neuroprotection, and delayed cord clamping at delivery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nemours/Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Michael Favara, Jay Greenspan & Zubair H Aghai

Authors
  1. Michael Favara
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  2. Jay Greenspan
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  3. Zubair H Aghai
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Favara .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred I. duPont Institute, Wilmington, Delaware, USA

    Freeman Miller

  2. Cerebral Palsy Program, AI DuPont Hospital for Children , Wilmington, Delaware, USA

    Steven Bachrach

  3. AI DuPont Hospital for Children , Wilmington, Delaware, USA

    Nancy Lennon

  4. Drexel University, PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, USA

    Margaret O'Neil

Section Editor information

  1. Al duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, DE, USA

    Steven Bachrach

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Favara, M., Greenspan, J., Aghai, Z.H. (2018). Cerebral Palsy and the Relationship to Prematurity. In: Miller, F., Bachrach, S., Lennon, N., O'Neil, M. (eds) Cerebral Palsy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50592-3_1-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50592-3_1-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50592-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50592-3

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