Serious Complications Of Cerebral Palsy

Contracture

Cerebral palsy patients may develop contracture, a deformity that occurs when the connective tissues of an individual's body constrict and become stiff. Tissues that can be affected by contracture include joint capsules, ligaments, muscles, tendons, and skin. Contracture can manifest as difficulty stretching the legs, moving the hands, and straightening the fingers. There are several ways cerebral palsy can cause patients to have contractures. The muscle of individuals who have cerebral palsy is structurally altered with fibers that have a small diameter, reduced muscle body size, and overly stretched sarcomeres. In addition, the muscle tissue of affected individuals has an abnormal arrangement of connective tissue and an altered extracellular matrix. Most of these abnormalities in muscle tissues that cause contracture are caused by altered gene expression and a deficiency of muscle stem cells.

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