Growing muscles in children with cerebral palsy

Abstract

Muscles in the impaired lower limb of children with cerebral palsy (CP) are consistently reported to be smaller than children with typical development.1 Muscle size is important as it is directly related to force generation. In the lower limb, muscle size will impact the ability to weight–bear, balance, and provide forward propulsion during gait. One longitudinal study has investigated calf muscle growth in children with CP aged 24–60months compared to typically developing children and has reported reduced muscle growth rate over a 12‐month period.2 The cross‐sectional study by Herskind et al.3 presents data on reduced medial gastrocnemius muscle growth rate in children with CP aged 8 to 65 months, compared to a sample of similarly aged typically developing children. The CP and typically developing cohorts in this study are the largest to date and incorporate the youngest participants.