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Mixed Cerebral Palsy - Natural or Negligent?


This condition which results from damage to the brain often causes difficulties that can affect all or some of the limbs in conditions known as monoplegia, diplegia, hemiplegia, triplegia and quadriplegia and is generally categorized into three primary types know as spastic, ataxic and athetoid. Mixed cerebral palsy occurs when two or more of the primary types are present in the same person and occurs in about 10 percent of patients. Sufferers usually have both the tight muscle tone of the spastic form and the involuntary movements of the athetoid form. Whilst most cases of this condition are naturally occuring phenomena known as a birth defect, probably about 10% of cases are due to actionable medical malpractice whereby very substantial compensation can be claimed from a negligent healthcare professional.

The mixed variant is caused by injury to both the pyramidal and extra pyramidal areas of the brain. Usually the spasticity is the more obvious first symptom, with the involuntary athetoid movements increasing when the child is between nine months and three years old making the presence of mixed cerebral palsy more obvious. The most common combination is athetoid/spastic-diplegic or athetoid/spastic-hemiplegic. The least common is athetoid/ataxic. Any combination of types can occur and it is possible to have a mixture of spastic, athetoid and ataxic.

This condition in general takes a long time to positively diagnose which is partly due to healthcare professionals reluctance to diagnose such a catastrophic condition until they are completely sure and partly due to other conditions which may mimic and include neuromotor dysfunction, developmental delay, motor disability, static encephalopathy and central nervous system dysfunction. Whilst the recorded incidence of mixed cerebral palsy is rising, this is not due to an actual increase in its incidence but is caused by better diagnostic techniques allowing more positive diagnoses which include electromyography and nerve conduction studies, chromosome analysis, electro-encephalogram (EEG), thyroid tests, imaging tests including CT scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound scans.

Please consider our cerebral palsy information which contains an overview of this condition and its causes and if you believe that your child's condition is as a result of medical malpractice and you would like free advice on cerebral palsy settlements from a specialist attorney just complete the contact form and a member of The Association of Trial Lawyers of America will telephone to discuss your child's claim with no further obligation.