Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0026838 (spasticity)
 6,471 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In recent years there have been a number of advances in understanding of predisposing and protective factors in the development of cerebral palsy in infants. Multiple gestation births, maternal infection, and maternal and fetal thrombophilic conditions all predispose to the development of CP in the infant. Opportunities for prevention of CP may develop from an improved understanding of these factors and their mechanisms of operation. Similar progress has been made in the evaluation of treatments for CP and the effects of these treatments on the individual's impairment, function, and disability. Selective posterior rhizotomy and Botulinum toxin A are now widely used in the treatment of spasticity. The challenge remains to determine how effectively these promising interventions can alter long-term function and quality of life outcomes in children and adults with CP.
Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 2001
PMID:Advances in prevention and treatment of cerebral palsy. 1124 80

HIV-related encephalopathy is an important problem in vertically infected children with HIV. Infected infants may manifest early, catastrophic encephalopathy, with loss of brain growth, motor abnormalities, and cognitive dysfunction. Even without evidence of AIDS, infected infants score lower than serorevertors on developmental measures, particularly language acquisition. Children with perinatal or later transfusion-related infection generally are roughly comparable developmentally to their peers until late in their course. Symptoms similar to adult AIDS dementia complex are occasionally seen in adolescents with advanced AIDS, including dementia, bradykinesia, and spasticity. Opportunistic CNS infections such as toxoplasmosis and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy are less common in children and adolescents than in adults. Increasing evidence suggests that aggressive antiretroviral treatment may halt or even reverse encephalopathy. Neuroimaging changes may precede or follow clinical manifestations, and include early lenticulostriate vessel echogenicity on cranial ultrasound, calcifying microangiopathy on CT scan, and/or white matter lesions and central atrophy on MRI. Differential diagnosis of neurological dysfunction in an HIV-infected infant includes the effects of maternal substance abuse, other CNS congenital infections, and other causes of early static encephalopathy. Initial entry of HIV into the nervous system occurs very early in infection. The risk of clinical HIV encephalopathy increases with very early age of infection and with high viral loads. Virus is found in microglia and brain derived macrophages, not neurons. The neuronal effect of HIV is probably indirect, with various cytokines implicated. Apoptosis is the presumed mechanism of damage to neurons by HIV.
Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 2001
PMID:Neurological and developmental effects of HIV and AIDS in children and adolescents. 1155 37

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) that is increasingly recognized as a disease that affects children. Similar to adult-onset MS, children present with visual and sensory complaints, as well as weakness, spasticity, and ataxia. A lumbar puncture can be helpful in diagnosing MS when CSF immunoglobulins and oligoclonal bands are present. White matter demyelinating lesions on MRI are required for the diagnosis; however, children typically have fewer lesions than adults. Many criteria have been proposed to diagnose MS that have been applied to children, mostly above 10 years of age. The recent revisions to the McDonald criteria allow for earlier diagnosis, such as after a clinically isolated event. However, children are more likely than adults to have monosymptomatic illnesses. None of the approved disease-modifying therapies used in adult-onset MS have been approved for pediatrics; however, a few studies have verified their safety and tolerability in children. Although children and adults with MS have similar neurological symptoms, laboratory (cerebrospinal fluid) data, and neuroimaging findings, the clinical course, pathogenesis, and treatment of childhood onset MS require further investigation.
Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 2006
PMID:Childhood multiple sclerosis: a review. 1680 11