Cerebral Palsy Causes & Risk Factors

Conditions & Diseases: Brain & Nervous System

Cerebral Palsy

Causes & Risk Factors

Damage to a developing brain caused by genetic or developmental disorders, injury or disease may lead to cerebral palsy. Congenital (present at birth but not necessarily hereditary; acquired during fetal development) cerebral palsy may be caused due to following factors:

1. Damage to white matter of the brain: Damage to white matter of the brain causes Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL) leading to cerebral palsy. This damage is caused due to various factors such as maternal or fetal infections. In 26 to 34 weeks of gestation period, the periventricular white matter is vulernable to injury.

2. Faulty brain development: Brain malformations (cerebral dysgenesis) could be due to an interruption in the normal brain growth during fetal development. Factors such as mutations to the genes controlling brain development, infections, fevers, trauma and other unhealthy conditions in the womb prevent the normal development of brain.

3. Bleeding in the brain: Fetal stroke suffered by babies in the womb due to placental blood clots and bleeding inside the brain due to a blockade of blood vessels (intracranial hemorrhage). Maternal hypertension or maternal pelvic inflammatory diseases increase the risk of fetal stroke.

4. Lack of oxygen to brain: Damage to the brain can be caused by a lack of oxygen or poor supply of oxygen (hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy or intrapartum asphyxia) leading to destruction of tissue in the cerebral motor cortex or other areas of the brain. Maternal hypotension, rupture of uterus, detachment of placenta or problems involving the umbilical cord leads to a brain damage (1).

Risk factors include:

Multiple births (e.g. twins, triplets, quadruplets).
Poor nutrition of pregnant women.
Pregnant women exposed to toxic substances, including nicotine, alcohol and drugs are susceptible to give birth to babies suffering from cerebral palsy.
Rh or A-B-O blood type incompatibility between mother and infant.
Chromosomal abnormalities.
A long labor can damage the brain of a new born.
Premature delivery and low birth weight.
Caesarian or breech delivery.
Effects of anesthetics, analgesics.
Head injury following falls, car accidents or abuse.
Drowning accidents.
Poisoning (3) & (1).

“Low Apgar score Infant heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, reflexes, and skin color are each scored as 0 (low), 1 (intermediate), or 2 (normal) after delivery. A total score of 7-10 at 5 minutes is considered normal; 4-6, intermediate; and 0-3, low. Scores that remain low 10-20 minutes after delivery indicate increased risk for CP” (4).

Article by Kona Vishnu, MS
Medical Writer,
OmniMedicalSearch.com