The Changing Panorama of Cerebral Palsy in Sweden.

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Abstract
The prevalence of cerebal palsy (CP) in Swedish infants born in the four-year period 1979-82 is reported and related to the prevalence in infants born during the twenty-year period 1959-78. In 1979-82 it was 2.17 per 1000 livebirths, 1.23 for children born at term and 0.94 for preterms, which means that the rising trend since the beginning of the 1970s persisted. The most pronounced rise, from 0.18 per 100 livebirths in the period 1967-70 to 0.67 in 1979-82 was found in the subgroup of preterms with spastic/ataxic diplegia. The severity of motor disability and the relative frequency of mental retardation, infantile hydrocephalus and epilepsy among preterm CP children successively increased over the same period of time. The livebirth prevalence of CP in terms infants increased slightly but non-significantly during the period 1967-82. The birthweight-specific prevalence of CP per 1000 newborns surviving the first week increased in all birthweight groups during the period 1967-82, significantly for birthweights below 1500 g and over 2500 g. The rising prevalence of CP was concomitant with a parallel fall in perinatal mortality, especially in very preterm infants. In the 1980s, severely multi-handicapped, very preterm children, only exceptionally seen among CP children born in the 1960s and 1970s, has become a matter of concern.