DO X-RAYS OR OTHER TESTS HELP IN DIAGNOSIS CEREBRAL PALSY?

As noted above, in making a diagnosis of cerebral palsy the most meaningful aspect of the examination is the physical evidence of abnormal motor function. A diagnosis of cerebral palsy cannot be made on the basis of an x-ray or blood test, though the physician may order such tests to exclude other neurologic diseases (such as those mentioned above). Blood tests and chromosome analysis are helpful in diagnosing hereditary conditions that may influence the parents' future child-bearing decisions. When the tests indicate that a child's condition is something other than cerebral palsy and that the condition is inherited, family members will benefit from genetic counselling. Cerebral palsy is not a hereditary condition, however, and these tests will neither establish nor rule out a diagnosis of CP.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) scans are often ordered when the physician suspects that the child has cerebral palsy. These tests may provide evidence of hydrocephalus (an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the cerebral ventricles), and they may be used to exclude other causes of motor problems. These scans do not prove whether a child has a cerebral palsy; nor do they predict how a specific child will function as she grows. Thus, children with normal scans may have severe cerebral palsy, and children with clearly abnormal scans occasionally appear totally normal or have only mild physical evidence of cerebral palsy. As a group, though, children with cerebral palsy do have brain scars, cysts, and other changes which show up on scans more frequently than in normal children. Therefore, when a scar is seen on a CT scan of the brain of a child whose physical examination suggests he may have cerebral palsy, the scar is one more piece of evidence indicating that the child is likely to have motor problems in the future.