Cerebral Palsy Types

Cerebral palsy is a term that covers a spectrum of disorders that affect motor function and development. These disorders are sometimes a result of medical negligence affecting the brain during the birth process. The different types of cerebral palsy are classified based on the bodily movement and posture that are affected by the disorder. Types include mixed cerebral palsy, spastic cerebral palsy, ataxic cerebral palsy, and athetoid cerebral palsy. If your child has one of the types of cerebral palsy, and you believe that it might be the result of medical malpractice, the experienced Baltimore cerebral palsy lawyers at Lebowitz & Mzhen can evaluate your case and provide skilled legal representation.

The most common type of cerebral palsy is spastic cerebral palsy. With this type of cerebral palsy, the affected person has tightened or rigid rmuscles in certain areas of the body and is unable to release the tension. There may be difficulties with coordination, balance, talking, eating, and controlling movements. The four kinds of spastic cerebral palsy are hemiplegia, diplegia, monoplegia, and quadriplegia.

Nonspastic cerebral palsy is divided into dyskinetic cerebral palsy and ataxic cerebral palsy. Dyskinetic cerebral palsy has two subtypes: athetoid and dystonic cerebral palsy. In some cases, a child has symptoms of more than one kind of cerebral palsy. In other cases, a child has total body cerebral palsy, which may be a mix of spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, ataxic cerebral palsy, and dyskinetic cerebral palsy.

After receiving a cerebral palsy diagnosis, you may be wondering what caused your child to develop cerebral palsy. Each case is unique, but generally cerebral palsy is caused by a prenatal disturbance of brain cell migration during brain development, poor myelination of nerve cell fibers during the prenatal period, postnatal non-functional connections between brain cells related to trauma, asphyxia, or infection, or perinatal brain death during the birthing process. In other words, some causes are events that occurred during the birthing process that starved the brain of oxygen or ruptured blood vessels. If these events are the fault of your provider or should have been treated differently by your provider, you may be able to recover damages.

In birth injury cases, we will retain medical experts to evaluate your case and if appropriate present it in court. A pediatric neurologist or radiologist can obtain data through MRIs or CT scans of your child and work with your child's pediatrician to determine a cause. It is important to know the specific type of cerebral palsy to ensure that your child receives the appropriate treatment and care to reach their full potential.

Birth injury cases are cases in which the medical professionals associated with the birth process acted or failed to act in ways that fell below the accepted standard of medical care. In these cases, you will have to establish that a health care provider did not follow the standard of care, and but for the failure of that health care professional or professionals to meet the standard of care, your child would not have suffered injuries. Causation may be complex in birth injury cases, making it particularly important to work with an attorney who understands how cerebral palsy may be caused during a doctor or nurse's failure to act during a mother's labor and delivery.

Although the birth of a child is an exciting time for most parents, a diagnosis of any of the cerebral palsy types may present a significant challenge for a child, the parents, and the whole family. Often, the lifetime needs for additional care are more than a few million dollars. At Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers, our Baltimore cerebral palsy attorneys understand the significant challenges faced by individuals and families dealing with cerebral palsy in Maryland and Washington, D.C. We do not recover any fees or expenses unless we obtain a judgment or settlement in your favor. Call us at (800) 654-1949 or (410) 654-3600, or contact us online to set up a free consultation with a birth injury attorney.