Current Imaging: PET Scan Use in Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a heterogeneous group of disorders of movement and posture due to a defect, injury, or lesion of the immature brain during the antenatal, natal, or early postnatal period. The major types of cerebral palsy include spastic, extrapyramidal, and mixed cerebral palsy. Prematurely born babies most commonly have the spastic diplegic type of CP. When one hemisphere is affected, spastic hemiplegic CP may occur. There have been radical changes in our understanding of the etiology of CP over the past several decades due to rapid advances in neurogenetics and the advent of neuroimaging tools including cranial ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and newer advanced imaging modalities such as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The use of MRI has revolutionized the capacity of clinicians to obtain detailed images of the brain neonatally (even prenatally) and in the investigation of CP. Used in combination with history and clinical examination, the neuroimaging studies play a pivotal role in elucidating the etiology and pathogenesis of CP.