Preface

Cerebral palsy is defined as "a group of permanent disorders of the development of movement and posture, causing activity limitation, that is attributed to non-progressive disturbances that occurred in the developing fetal or infant brain." It is the most common motor disability seen in childhood. Cerebral palsy is caused by abnormal brain development or damage to the developing brain that results in a person's inability to control his or her muscles. The most common structural problem is within the white matter of the brain. It may occur during pregnancy, delivery, the first month of life, or less commonly in early childhood. There are four types of cerebral palsy: spastic, dyskinetic (also includes athetoid, choreoathetosis, and dystonic cerebral palsies), ataxic, and mixed types. The most common of those is the spastic type of cerebral palsy. Although there are treatment alternatives for cerebral palsy, there is still room for improving the medical care of patients with cerebral palsy.

This book includes seven chapters covering etiology and pathophysiology of cerebral palsy, and social impacts of the disease. It also examines current treatment modalities for cerebral palsy.

> **Pinar Kuru Bektaşoğlu** Sivas Numune Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Sivas, Turkiye

**1**

Section 1

Aetiology and

Pathophysiology

Section 1
