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Development of postural control in infancy in cerebral palsy and cystic periventricular leukomalacia

Anke G Boxum1, Linze-Jaap Dijkstra1, Sacha la Bastide-van Gemert2

  • 1University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Paediatrics - Developmental Neurology, Groningen, The Netherlands.

Research in Developmental Disabilities
|May 23, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Infants at very high-risk of Cerebral Palsy (CP) show similar postural development whether or not they develop CP. However, those with cystic periventricular leukomalacia (cPVL) struggle with fine-tuning postural adjustments.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Pediatrics
  • Motor Control

Background:

  • The development of postural problems in Cerebral Palsy (CP) is not well understood.
  • Postural muscle activity involves direction-specificity and fine-tuning of this activity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the development of postural control in infants at very high-risk (VHR) of CP up to 21 months corrected age.
  • To compare postural development between VHR infants with and without CP.
  • To examine differences in postural development based on the presence or absence of cystic periventricular leukomalacia (cPVL).

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal electromyography recordings of postural muscles during reaching in 38 VHR infants (4.7-22.6 months).
  • Infants were categorized based on CP diagnosis and presence of cPVL.
  • Developmental trajectories were analyzed using linear mixed effect models.

Main Results:

  • VHR infants with and without CP exhibited similar postural development trajectories.
  • Infants with cPVL showed improvement in direction-specificity with age.
  • Infants with cPVL consistently performed worse in fine-tuning postural adjustments compared to those without cPVL.

Conclusions:

  • Postural development in VHR infants with and without CP differs from typically developing infants.
  • Infants with cPVL demonstrate early-onset deficits in fine-tuning postural adjustments, prioritizing direction-specificity.
Abstract

Keywords:
Cerebral palsyCystic periventricular leukomalaciaElectromyographyInfancyPostural control

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