Gastrostomy tube feeding of children with cerebral palsy: variation across six European countries.

AIM: To compare the prevalence of gastrostomy tube feeding (GTF) of children with cerebral palsy (CP) in six European countries. METHOD: Data on 1295 children (754 males, 541 females; mean age 5y 11mo, range 11y 2mo, min 6mo, max 11y 8mo) with CP born from 1999 to 2001 were collected from geographically defined areas in six European countries; four of the areas covered the whole country. Distribution of CP was unilateral 37%, bilateral 51%, dyskinetic 8%, and ataxic 4%. Sixty children were classified in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I and II, 6 in level III and 34 in levels IV and Vas Outcome measures were GTF, age at placement, feeding difficulties and the children's height and weight for age standard deviation scores (z-scores). RESULTS: The use of GTF among all children with CP was highest in western Sweden (22%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 16-29), and lowest in Portugal (6%, 95% CI 3-10), northern England (6%, 95% CI 3-9) and in Iceland (3%, 95% CI 0-13; p<0.001). The difference between areas was greater among children in GMFCS levels IV and V (non-ambulant); in this group, lower height z-scores were more prevalent in the areas with lower prevalence of GTF. The children's age at placement of gastrostomy also varied between areas (p<0.002). INTERPRETATION: The observed differences in the use of GTF may reflect differences in access to treatment or clinical practice, or both. Our results suggest that the use of GTF may improve growth in height and weight among children with more severely affected gross motor function - the group most likely to have associated feeding difficulties.

Clinical features of cerebral palsy in children with symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection.

BACKGROUND: Human cytomegalovirus is the most common cause of vertically transmitted viral infection, affecting around 1% of liveborns. Infection is symptomatic in nearly 10% of infected children who are at higher risk of development of severe neurological disorders, including cerebral palsy. AIMS: To study the clinical profile of children with cerebral palsy caused by symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection in a multicenter study involving six countries from the Surveillance of Cerebral Palsy in Europe (SCPE) Network. METHODS: Data on 35 children (13 males, 22 females; mean age at last assessment 12y 6mo, age range 14y 6mo, min 4y, max 18y 6mo) on pre/peri/neonatal history and last clinical assessment were collected. Classification of cerebral palsy and associated impairments was performed according to SCPE criteria. RESULTS: The majority of children had bilateral spastic cerebral palsy, 85.7%, with a confidence interval (CI) [69.7-95.2], and 71.4% [CI 53.7-85.4] were unable to walk (GMFCS levels IV-V) while fine motor function was severely affected in 62.8% [CI 44.9-78.5] (BFMF levels IV and V). Most of the children with severe CP had severe associated impairments. 11.4% of children had severe visual and 42.8% severe hearing impairment, 77.1% [CI 59.9-89.6] suffered from epilepsy, also 77.1% had severe intellectual impairment, and speech was undeveloped in 71.4%. Female:male ratio was 1.69:1 and 80% of children were term born. CONCLUSIONS: Cerebral palsy following symptomatic congenital cytomegalovirus infection seems to be in most cases a severe condition and associated impairments are overrepresented.

Development of The Viking Speech Scale to classify the speech of children with cerebral palsy.

Surveillance registers monitor the prevalence of cerebral palsy and the severity of resulting impairments across time and place. The motor disorders of cerebral palsy can affect children's speech production and limit their intelligibility. We describe the development of a scale to classify children's speech performance for use in cerebral palsy surveillance registers, and its reliability across raters and across time. Speech and language therapists, other healthcare professionals and parents classified the speech of 139 children with cerebral palsy (85 boys, 54 girls; mean age 6.03 years, SD 1.09) from observation and previous knowledge of the children. Another group of health professionals rated children's speech from information in their medical notes. With the exception of parents, raters reclassified children's speech at least four weeks after their initial classification. Raters were asked to rate how easy the scale was to use and how well the scale described the child's speech production using Likert scales. Inter-rater reliability was moderate to substantial (k>.58 for all comparisons). Test-retest reliability was substantial to almost perfect for all groups (k>.68). Over 74% of raters found the scale easy or very easy to use; 66% of parents and over 70% of health care professionals judged the scale to describe children's speech well or very well. We conclude that the Viking Speech Scale is a reliable tool to describe the speech performance of children with cerebral palsy, which can be applied through direct observation of children or through case note review.