This investigation quantified maximum active resultant joint torques in children with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy and nondisabled children. An isokinetic dynamometer rotated the limb (10°/s) while the resultant knee joint torques (both assistive and resistive) during knee extension and flexion in 6 nondisabled children and 26 children with cerebral palsy were recorded. Torque–angle data wer...

The aetiology of congenital cerebral diplegia has been controversial since the earliest medical interest in the condition. Some authors have considered birth injury to be directly causal in the majority of patients (Little, 1862; McNutt, 1885; Gowers, 1888). Others have postulated the existence of some underlying intrinsic abnormality of maternal reproductive capacity causing both disorders of ...

The classification systems for cerebral palsy (CP) need to be continuously updated, according to specific aims and to significant changes observed over the years in the panorama of CP. A simplification of CP categories, abandoning the use of the term diplegia, has been recently suggested. Conversely, in this paper a new proposal for classification of CP is briefly presented, where special atten...

Introduction Ankle foot orthoses (AFOs) are prescribed for ambulatory children with spastic diplegia to improve biomechanical alignment and functional capability. Orthotic prescription is often based upon clinical experiences, treatment paradigms (biomechanical vs neurodevelopmental), and the perceived desires of the child/family. Previous investigations have reported that AFO use in ambulatory...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the co-ordination between reaching, ground reaction forces and muscle activity in standing children with severe spastic diplegia wearing dynamic ankle-foot orthoses compared with typically developing children. DESIGN Clinical experimental study. SUBJECTS Six children with spastic diplegia (Gross Motor Function Classification System level III-IV) and 6 controls. ME...

The objective of this work was to quantitatively describe the relationships among overall lower extremity strength and body composition with measures of activity in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy (CP). The design was a prospective, multicenter cohort, cross-sectional study among seven pediatric orthopedic facilities. The participants included children ages eight to 18 years (n = 392; 2...