Journal of Clinical and Experimental Investigations

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate visual and hearing disabilities and epilepsy frequency in children with cerebral palsy.
Materials and methods: The medical records of patients who were followed up with the diagnosis of cerebral palsy in Child Neurology Department were examined retrospectively.
Results: In this study, Totally 460 patients of which 63.3% male and 36.7% female were included. Male/female ratio was 1.7 and 60% of the patients were mature and 40% of them were premature. The distribution of the cases according to clinical description was as follows: 39.7% spastic quadriplegia, 28.7% spastic diplegia, 18.2% spastic hemiplegia, 7% choreoathetoid cerebral palsy, 3.5% mixed type cerebral palsy, 1.1% hypotonic cerebral palsy, 0.9% monoparesis, 0.4% dystonic cerebral palsy and 0.4% ataxic cerebral palsy. Disorderss coexisting with cerebral palsy were epilepsy in 54.3%, strabismus in 38.5%, and hearing loss in 22% of patients.
Conclusion: Although cerebral palsy is known as a disease with motor disability, brain pathology frequently causes hearing and visual disturbances and epilepsy. Early diagnosis and treatment of these accompanying disabilities will affect positively quality of life of these patients.