Spastic diplegic cerebral palsy

Spastic diplegia, historically known as Little's disease, is a form of cerebral palsy (CP) that is a chronic neuromuscular condition of hypertonia and spasticity—manifested as an especially high and constant 'tightness' or 'stiffness'—in the muscles of the lower extremities of the human body, usually those of the legs, hips and pelvis. Doctor William John Little's first recorded encounter with cerebral palsy is reported to have been among children who displayed signs of spastic diplegia. Spastic diplegia, historically known as Little's disease, is a form of cerebral palsy (CP) that is a chronic neuromuscular condition of hypertonia and spasticity—manifested as an especially high and constant 'tightness' or 'stiffness'—in the muscles of the lower extremities of the human body, usually those of the legs, hips and pelvis. Doctor William John Little's first recorded encounter with cerebral palsy is reported to have been among children who displayed signs of spastic diplegia. Spastic diplegia accounts for about 22% of all diagnoses of cerebral palsy, and together with spastic quadriplegia and spastic triplegia make up the broad classification spastic cerebral palsy, which accounts for 70% of all cerebral palsy diagnoses. Individuals with spastic diplegia are very tight and stiff and must work very hard to successfully resist and 'push through' the extra tightness they perpetually experience. Other than this, however, these individuals are almost always normal in every significant clinical sense. When they are younger, spastic diplegic individuals typically undergo gait analysis so that their clinicians can determine the best assistive devices for them, if any are necessary, such as a walker or crutches. The main difference between spastic diplegia and a normal gait pattern is its signature 'scissor gait'—a style that some able-bodied people might tend to confuse with the effects of drunkenness, multiple sclerosis, or another nerve disease. The degree of spasticity in spastic diplegia (and, for that matter, other types of spastic CP) varies widely from person to person. No two people with spastic diplegia are exactly alike. Balance problems and/or stiffness in gait can range from barely noticeable all the way to misalignments so pronounced that the person needs crutches (typically forearm crutches/lofstrand crutches) or a cane / walking stick to assist in ambulation. Less often, spasticity is severe enough to compel the person to use a wheelchair. In general, however, lower-extremity spasticity in spastic diplegia is rarely so great as to totally prevent ambulation—most people with the condition can walk, and can do so with at least a basic amount of overall stability. Regardless, from case to case, steeply varying degrees of imbalance, potential tripping over uneven terrain while walking, or needing to hold on to various surfaces or walls in certain circumstances to keep upright, are typically ever-present potential issues and are much more common occurrences amongst those with spastic diplegia than among those with a normal or near-normal gait pattern. Among some of the people with spastic diplegia who choose to be ambulatory on either an exclusive or predominant basis, one of the seemingly common lifestyle choices is for the person to ambulate within his or her home without an assistive device, and then to use the assistive device, if any, once outdoors. Others may use no assistive device in any indoor situation at all, while always using one when outdoors. Above the hips, persons with spastic diplegia typically retain normal or near-normal muscle tone and range of motion, though some lesser spasticity may also affect the upper body, such as the trunk and arms, depending on the severity of the condition in the individual (the spasticity condition affecting the whole body equally, rather than just the legs, is spastic quadriplegia, a slightly different classification). In addition, because leg tightness often leads to instability in ambulation, extra muscle tension usually develops in the shoulders, chest, and arms due to compensatory stabilisation movements, regardless of the fact that the upper body itself is not directly affected by the condition. Spastic diplegia's particular type of brain damage inhibits the proper development of upper motor neuron function, impacting the motor cortex, the basal ganglia and the corticospinal tract. Nerve receptors in the spine leading to affected muscles become unable to properly absorb gamma amino butyric acid (GABA), the amino acid that regulates muscle tone in humans. Without GABA absorption to those particular nerve rootlets (usually centred, in this case, around the sectors L1-S1 and L2-S2), affected nerves (here, the ones controlling the legs) perpetually fire the message for their corresponding muscles to permanently, rigidly contract, and the muscles become permanently hypertonic (spastic). The abnormally high muscle tone that results creates lifelong difficulty with all voluntary and passive movement in the legs, and in general creates stress over time—depending on the severity of the condition in the individual, the constant spasticity ultimately produces pain, muscle/joint breakdown including tendinitis and arthritis, premature physical exhaustion (i.e., becoming physically exhausted even when you internally know that you have more energy than you are able to use), contractures, spasms, and progressively worse deformities/mis-alignments of bone structure around areas of the tightened musculature as the person's years progress. Severe arthritis, tendinitis, and similar breakdown can start as early as the spastic diplegic person's mid-20s (as a comparison, typical people with normal muscle tone are not at risk of arthritis, tendinitis, and similar breakdown until well into their 50s or 60s, if even then). No type of CP is officially a progressive condition, and indeed spastic diplegia does not clinically 'get worse' given the nerves, damaged permanently at birth, neither recover nor degrade. This aspect is clinically significant because other neuromuscular conditions with similar surface characteristics in their presentations, like most forms of multiple sclerosis, indeed do degrade the body over time and do involve actual progressive worsening of the condition, including the spasticity often seen in MS. However, spastic diplegia is indeed a chronic condition; the symptoms themselves cause compounded effects on the body that are typically just as stressful on the human body as a progressive condition is. Despite this reality and the fact that muscle tightness is the symptom of spastic diplegia and not the cause, symptoms rather than cause are typically seen as the primary area of focus for treatment, especially surgical treatment, except when a selective dorsal rhizotomy is brought into consideration, or when an oral baclofen regimen is attempted. Unlike any other condition that may present with similar effects, spastic diplegia is entirely congenital in origin—that is, it is almost always acquired shortly before or during a baby's birth process. Things like exposure to toxins, traumatic brain injury, encephalitis, meningitis, drowning, or suffocation do not tend to lead to spastic diplegia in particular or even cerebral palsy generally. Overall, the most common cause of spastic diplegia is Periventricular leukomalacia, more commonly known as neonatal asphyxia or infant hypoxia—a sudden in-womb shortage of oxygen-delivery through the umbilical cord. This sudden lack of oxygen is also almost always combined with premature birth, a phenomenon that, even by itself, would inherently risk the infant developing some type of CP. On the other hand, the presence of certain maternal infections during pregnancy such as congenital rubella syndrome can also lead to spastic diplegia, since such infections can have similar end results to infant hypoxia. As a matter of everyday maintenance, muscle stretching, range of motion exercises, yoga, contact improvisation, modern dance, resistance training, and other physical activity regimens are often utilized by those with spastic CP to help prevent contractures and reduce the severity of symptoms.