Clinical Phenotypes, Documented Maternal and Perinatal Characteristics, and Brain MRI Findings in Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study from Southeastern Iran

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AuthorBahareh Mahmoudien
AuthorNazanin Nazarien
AuthorBehrouz Khajehen
AuthorMojtaba Khajehen
AuthorAli Yadollahifaren
OrcidBahareh Mahmoudi [0009-0000-6833-9121]en
OrcidNazanin Nazari [0009-0000-9077-5026]en
OrcidBehrouz Khajeh [0000-0002-0834-7952]en
OrcidMojtaba Khajeh [0009-0003-5830-893X]en
Issued Date2026-10-31en
AbstractBackground: Cerebral palsy is a major pediatric motor disorder that is often accompanied by neurological, cognitive, and developmental difficulties. Describing clinical features, documented perinatal characteristics, and brain MRI findings together may provide useful contextual information to inform care planning without implying causal or prognostic relationships. Objectives: This study described the clinical phenotypes, comorbidities, documented maternal and perinatal characteristics, and brain MRI findings in children with cerebral palsy referred to a tertiary center in southeastern Iran. The primary descriptive outcomes included motor types of cerebral palsy, topographical patterns, and MRI findings; secondary variables included developmental comorbidities and documented maternal, prenatal, perinatal, and neonatal characteristics. No causal, prognostic, or independent association objectives were defined. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study examined 103 children with cerebral palsy at Ali Asghar Hospital, Zahedan, during 2020 - 2021. Children with an established clinical diagnosis of cerebral palsy and interpretable brain MRI data were included. Standardized forms were used to collect demographic, clinical, prenatal, and MRI data. Clinical variables were extracted from medical records, and MRI abnormalities were obtained from routine radiology reports; when multiple abnormalities were documented, categories were not considered mutually exclusive. Data were summarized using SPSS version 26. Categorical variables were reported as frequencies and percentages, and continuous variables as the mean ± standard deviation. No inferential, causal, prognostic, or independent association analyses were performed. Ethics approval: IR.ZAUMS.REC.1400.329. Results: Among the 103 included children, the mean age was 2.7 ± 3.5 years, the median age was 1.8 years (IQR: 0.6 - 4.5), and 68% were male. Neurodevelopmental, motor developmental, and speech developmental delays were documented in 37.9%, 32.0%, and 23.3% of children, respectively. Documented perinatal and neonatal features included neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission, birth asphyxia, neonatal seizures, and jaundice requiring treatment. MRI findings mainly included periventricular leukomalacia (35.0%), porencephaly/cystic encephalomalacia (32.0%), and basal ganglia involvement (13.6%). Spastic cerebral palsy was the most common motor type (74.8%), and quadriplegia was the most common topographical pattern. Findings were summarized descriptively only, without causal, independent, or prognostic inference. Conclusions: This study describes the spectrum of clinical presentations, associated comorbidities, documented maternal and perinatal characteristics, and MRI abnormalities among children with cerebral palsy at a tertiary center in southeastern Iran. These findings should be interpreted as a descriptive profile of coexisting clinical and radiological features rather than as evidence of causal, independent, or prognostic relationships. The findings may support early screening, timely referral, and multidisciplinary care. Integrated clinical assessment and neuroimaging review may inform rehabilitation planning and family-centered follow-up in underserved settings.en
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.5812/zjrms-170950en
URIhttps://brieflands.com/journals/zjrms/articles/170950en
KeywordCerebral Palsyen
KeywordChildrenen
KeywordMaternal and Perinatal Characteristicsen
KeywordMagnetic Resonance Imagingen
KeywordClinical Presentationen
KeywordMultidisciplinary Careen
PublisherBrieflandsen
TitleClinical Phenotypes, Documented Maternal and Perinatal Characteristics, and Brain MRI Findings in Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study from Southeastern Iranen
TypeResearch Articleen

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