What is Cerebral Palsy?

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of disorders characterized by muscle stiffness (also called spasticity), making everyday activities such as walking, talking, eating, and holding objects difficult.

In some patients with CP, only one arm and one leg (usually on the same side of the body) are affected. This is called hemiplegia. If the muscle disturbances occur in both legs, it is referred to as diplegia. If the patient experiences muscle difficulties in all four extremities, as well as in the trunk and neck muscles, this is referred to as quadriplegia.

Many patients with CP also have abnormally curved spines—that is usually scoliosis. Spasticity and weakened spinal muscles can cause the spine to curve abnormally to the right and/or to the left. Scoliosis can cause the spine to look like an S or a C. Scoliosis is a “three-dimensional” curve, meaning that the spine can twist in addition to curving side-to-side. As the vertebrae (the bones that make up the spine) rotate, they may cause lung problems and/or progressive deformity.