Subtypes of Cerebral Palsy (CP)

Description

The abnormal patterns of movement and posture in cerebral palsy can be subtyped based on clinical features.

Pattern	Features
spastic	increased tone with pathologic reflexes; spastic catch and pathologic clonus are present
dyskinetic, dystonic	involuntary movements with abnormal postures and hypertonia
dyskinetic, choreo-athetotic	chorea = rapid, jerky involuntary movements; athetosis = slow writhing, contorting movements
ataxic	loss of orderly muscular coordination

The presence of more than one pattern indicates the mixed subtype. Usually these cases are classified based on the dominant pattern (whichever pattern is most striking).

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