Analysis of Genetic Factors in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Cerebral palsy is a group of permanent limb posture and movement abnormalities caused by certain injuries to fetal or neonatal brain before its growth and development is completed. It is reported abroad that the incidence of cerebral palsy in live births (including full-term and preterm infants) is about 1/500, which is the most common disability disease in children. Despite many epidemiological studies, the cause of the epidemic has not yet been identified, because cerebral palsy is a complex group of symptoms, rather than a simple disease which is usually diagnosed clinically around the age of one. Some severe complications during pregnancy, such as placental abruption, umbilical cord prolapse, and uterine rupture, significantly increase the risk of cerebral palsy, but in general these factors account for only a small proportion of cerebral palsy. At present, the major risk factors for cerebral palsy widely known at home and abroad are preterm infants, intrauterine infections or maternal fever at birth, ischemic stroke, congenital malformations, fetal intrauterine abnormal growth, and multiple pregnancies. In addition, a great deal of evidence suggests that although genetic factors are not the primary cause of cerebral palsy, they may increase genetic susceptibility to cerebral palsy. Any kind of pathogenic factor reaching a certain degree of severity may cause cerebral palsy. But more often than not, multiple risk factors jointly destroy the body's defense mechanism and eventually lead to cerebral palsy.