Question
A friend has a 2-year-old boy who is suffering from congenital cerebral palsy. I don’t know why the child developed this condition, and what are the causes behind it?
Answer
The causes of congenital cerebral palsy are mainly manifested between mother and child. For instance, poor maintenance during pregnancy, certain high-risk diseases in pregnant women, or developmental issues in the fetus can lead to congenital cerebral palsy. The direct causes include low birth weight (less than 2500g), congenital abnormalities, brain ischemia and hypoxia, and kernicterus. Low birth weight includes premature infants and full-term small for gestational age; congenital abnormalities may be the result of abnormal brain development, with about 53% of tetraplegic cerebral palsy patients related to congenital abnormalities, and 35% of non-quadriplegic cerebral palsy patients also related to congenital developmental abnormalities; brain ischemia and hypoxia account for 20% of cerebral palsy patients, usually related to asphyxia and birth injuries; kernicterus is one of the important causes of cerebral palsy, but with the development of family medicine, the proportion of cerebral palsy caused by kernicterus has gradually decreased.