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Query: UMLS:C0030552 (paresis)
 5,831 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The congenital osseous abnormalities associated with achondroplasia include stenosis of the foramen magnum and the upper cervical spinal canal. In the pediatric achondroplastic patient, such stenosis may lead to cervicomedullary compression with serious sequelae, including paresis, hypertonia, delayed motor mile-stones, and respiratory compromise. Using a standardized protocol the authors have treated 15 young achondroplastic patients with documented cervicomedullary compression by craniocervical decompression and duroplasty. Following this procedure, significant improvement in presenting neurological or respiratory complaints was noted in all patients. The mortality rate in this series was zero. The major cause of morbidity associated with this procedure was perioperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage from the surgical wound, presumably related to coexisting abnormalities of CSF dynamics. This problem was successfully managed by temporary or, when necessary, permanent CSF diversion procedures. It is concluded that craniocervical decompression is an effective and safe treatment for young achondroplastic patients with cervicomedullary compression.
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PMID:Craniocervical decompression for cervicomedullary compression in pediatric patients with achondroplasia. 238 75

Achondroplasia is an autosomal dominant condition that occurs in approximately 1 of 25,000 births. It has long been associated with neurologic morbidity and mortality in adults, but more recently it has been increasingly identified in children. Neurological sequelae of achondroplasia includes spinal stenosis, spinal cord compression at the foramen magnum (which can result in fatal acute craniocervical junction compression), hydrocephalus, radiculopathy, paresis, and abnormal spinal curvature. We report the case of a 12-year-old achondroplastic patient who incurred an apparently nontraumatic cervical spinal cord infarction, with resultant quadriplegia, with no apparent cause, which was complicated by impaired tolerance of temperature changes and hypercalcemia of immobilization. Whereas persons with achondroplasia have many of the same physical and functional impairments from spinal cord injury as other SCI patients, they are more likely to experience certain types of neurologic deficits and are more subject to other problems because of their altered body habitus.
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PMID:Spinal cord injury rehabilitation in a pediatric achondroplastic patient: case report. 829 50