Children who "outgrew' cerebral palsy

Abstract

A diagnosis of cerebral palsy was made for 229 one-year-old children enrolled in a large longitudinal study. Of these children, 118 were free of motor handicap at the age of 7 years. Mild early cerebral palsy, and the monoparetic, ataxic/dyskinetic, and diplegic forms of the disorder, resolved with high frequency. Normalization of motor signs was observed more frequently in black than in white children. However, 13% of white children and 25% of black children whose motor signs resolved were mentally retarded (IQ below 70) at 7 years of age. Nonfebrile seizures, abnormalities in speech articulation and extraocular movements, and certain abnormalities of behavior were more frequent among children who "outgrew" cerebral palsy than in the general population of the study.