Nucl Med Mol Imaging.  2013 Jun;47(2):119-124.

Brain SPECT Analysis After Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy in Young Children with Hemiplegic Cerebral Palsy: Case Report

• Kong EJ
• Chun KA
• Jeong JH
• Cho IH

Abstract

Constraint-induced movement therapy (CIMT) was shown recently to be promising for improving upper-limb function in children with cerebral palsy (CP). This study investigated the changes in cerebral perfusion with single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) after modified CIMT (child-friendly CIMT) in young hemiplegic girls. Two young children with left hemiplegic CP were studied with SPECT at rest before and after the CIMT period, and they also performed standardized upper motor function tests [Jebsen hand function test, quality of upper extremity skills test (QUEST), and dynamic electromyography (EMG)]. The cerebral perfusion SPECT revealed regional perfusion increase in the motor cortex area in the affected hemisphere, and the changes associated with functional gain. Our cases showed that intensive movement therapy appears to change local cerebral perfusion and SPECT could show these changes in children with hemiplegic CP.

Keyword

CIMT; Hemiplegic cerebral palsy; SPECT

MeSH Terms

Brain
Cerebral Palsy
Child
Electromyography
Hand
Humans
Motor Cortex
Perfusion
Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
Upper Extremity