How to diagnose cerebral palsy

It is very difficult for pregnant women to check whether their children have cerebral palsy during pregnancy. Because cerebral palsy is a brain disease, it is difficult to make a clear diagnosis under current conditions. After the child is born, it is necessary to go to the hospital for appropriate examinations in time to make a clear diagnosis. The earlier the diagnosis, the better the treatment and care methods can be for the child, avoiding causing greater trouble to the child's future life.

How to diagnose cerebral palsy

1. Signs in the neonatal period include breastfeeding difficulties, such as the child cannot suck after birth, sucks weakly or refuses to breastfeed, or becomes tired and weak after sucking; is overly quiet, cries softly or cries continuously; has few spontaneous movements, low muscle tone, and is soft and weak all over; the whole body is stiff and stiff, with increased muscle tone, often jumps out of the cradle, with the head dorsiflexed and sometimes tilted to one side, and both lower limbs are rigid and extended; is easily startled, convulsed, screams or is irritable; has abnormal postures, such as adduction of the upper limbs, internal rotation of the upper limbs, and clenched fists.

2. Signs at 1 to 3 months old: thumbs adducted, hands clenched into fists, or upper limbs adducted and internally rotated; not paying attention to people, eyes not following things in front of them; head instability, neck cannot be upright, head shaking left and right or head tilted to one side, inability to raise head in prone position; changes in muscle tone, such as stiffness of the whole body, rigid extension of the trunk, or weakness of the whole body.

Signs at 3, 4 to 5 months of age include eyes not following objects in front of them, not paying attention to people, and inflexible eyes; dull expression, no response when teased; inability to roll over, head raised less than 90 degrees in prone position; body gradually stiffening, mild opisthotonos posture or lower limbs crossed in scissors-like shape; asymmetrical body posture, etc.

4. Signs at 6 to 7 months old: uncoordinated movements of hands, mouth and eyes; hands quickly release grasping objects or cannot hold them for long; asymmetrical posture; unstable sitting position with forward or backward tilt; head dorsiflexion, shoulder extension, lower limbs internal rotation, hands clenched into fists; primitive reflexes still exist.

5. The signs at 8 to 12 months old are still unable to roll over; both lower limbs are still unable to support themselves; at 8 to 10 months old, the baby is still unable to grasp toys with one hand, or always grasps with one hand; at 8 to 10 months old, the baby still feels clumsy; at 8 months old, the baby still cannot sit alone; after 10 months, the baby still cannot say goodbye to people; after 10 months, the baby still stands on tiptoes; after 11 months, the baby cannot stand with support; after 12 months, the baby still cannot take a step; after 12 months, the baby still drools and "sucks his fingers", etc.

Can children with cerebral palsy be checked during pregnancy?

Electromyography: To understand the functional status of muscles and nerves. Children with cerebral palsy and muscular atrophy should undergo this examination as much as possible.

Evoked potentials: Children suspected of having visual and auditory dysfunction can undergo visual and auditory evoked potentials to detect abnormalities early and intervene in a timely manner.

Electroencephalogram: detect children's brain development and brain wave changes.

Encephalogram: Checks the function and blood supply of blood vessels in the head.

Electroencephalogram: Since many children with cerebral palsy have epilepsy, electroencephalogram (EEG) examinations should be performed routinely to rule out this complication. Common abnormalities include slowing of background activity, focal slow wave foci, or paroxysmal epileptiform discharges.

Brain CT and MRI examinations: mainly used to determine whether there are organic lesions and the location of the lesions. Brain atrophy, periventricular leukomalacia, multiple encephalomalacia and multicystic softening may be seen, which may be accompanied by congenital brain perforation, septum pellucid hypoplasia, cysts, ventricular enlargement, white matter hypoplasia, etc. CT examination helps explore the causes of cerebral palsy, such as congenital brain malformations, intrauterine infections, etc. This is also a common diagnostic test for cerebral palsy.