Etiology of Postneonatally Acquired Cerebral Palsy

In a retrospective study of 4,946 cerebral palsied patients, 624 (14%) had acquired the disease. This varied with the type of cerebral palsy, from 5% in athetoids to 30% in spastic hemiplegics. Encephalopathies accounted for 57% of acquired cerebral palsy, skull traumas for 18%, meningitis for 12%, vascular accidents for 8%, and all others for 5%. Sixty-five percent was acquired before the age of 2 years and 92% before 8 years. The type of cerebral palsy varies with etiology, spastic hemiplegia being most common in the vascular group. Males predominate except in the vascular accidents group. Acquired juvenile cerebral palsy is a connecting link between the congenital forms and those acquired in adult and senile life.