Question
What are the causes of pediatric cerebral palsy?
Answer
There are many causes of cerebral palsy, but more than 1/3 of cases may not have a known cause. Prenatal factors are common, including genetic and chromosomal diseases, congenital infections, brain developmental malformations or dysplasia, fetal brain ischemia and hypoxia leading to periventricular leukomalacia or basal ganglia damage, etc. Perinatal factors refer to brain injuries that occur during labor and within one week after birth, including hydrocephalus, neonatal shock, sepsis, or central nervous system infections, and ischemic hypoxic encephalopathy. Perinatal factors may be an important cause of cerebral palsy in premature infants.