Cerebral Palsy Life Expectancy

Cerebral palsy is a lifelong condition and comprises of many neuro-motor problems. It can present in a variety of manner from little clumsiness in gait to severe disability. An extent of the deficit is based on extent & site of insult in the brain. Most of the time parents ask the first question that what will be the quality of life of my child and what is cerebral palsy life expectancy? It cannot be determined definitely by looking at the child. But we can predict the quality of life & survival by detail analysis of associated disabilities. Although there is no statistical analysis regarding the cerebral palsy life expectancy of children with cerebral palsy but usual survival is between 30-70 years age. Cerebral palsy itself is not the etiological factor for mortality but cerebral palsy life expectancy is based on many associated factors like incumbency, the severity of disability, intellectual disability, grade of immunity, frequency & severity of epilepsy, nutritional status, respiratory problem & vision problem. Life expectancy is also governed by the quality of medical care given to them. Normally hemiplegic, diplegic & triplegic ambulatory children have a normal life expectancy equal to normal population. Ambulatory quadriplegic children also have a good quality of life with good medical care. Usual survival is upto 60 years of age. Usual cerebral palsy life expectancy in non-ambulatory children with quadriplegic spastic cerebral palsy is around 40 years. A child with feeding, nutritional problem, uncontrolled epilepsy & poor neck holding will have very short survival age around 20-30 years. Although, we can’t cure cerebral palsy but we can improve the quality of life with good medical & rehab care. It has been seen in practice that by making child ambulatory, we can improve the quality of life & also life expectancy. With the collaborative effort of physician, parents & therapist, quality can be improved in most of the children irrespective of the grade of disability. We should always focus on certain factors like mobility, control of seizure, feeding & good nutritional care.

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