The vertical balance management system is more synchronized in children with cerebral paralysis than in healthy children

Abstract

Introduction. All forms of infantile cerebral paralysis involve motor function defects. In clinical practice, the stabilometrics method is widely used due to its ability to perform detailed analyses of the mechanisms of disturbance and restoration of postural control in patients with various cerebral lesions. Aim. The study aimed to analyze the parameters of orthostatic balance in practically healthy children and in children with motor disorders caused by infantile cerebral paralysis of various severities. Material and methods. We examined 6- to 12-year-old children with mild and severe cerebral paralysis and impaired vertical postural control with a preserved ability to self-balance in the principal posture. Each group examined for comparison comprised 10 patients (children with infantile cerebral paralysis, and impaired vertical postural control) and 10 healthy children in the same age range. The stabilometrics method was used, and the statistical evaluation included correlation and regression analyses. Results. The results revealed that in comparison with the healthy children, the patient group exhibited a decrease in the vertical postural stability, which manifested as pronounced deviations from the nominal values of the stabilometric parameters. However, a strong correlation between the parameters of S, LFS, and the amplitude A of the pressure center was revealed, which significantly exceeded that of the healthy children, being most pronounced in cases of severe infantile cerebral paralysis. This indicates a more ordered center of pressure trajectory and, consequently, a higher synchronization of the vertical balance management system in children with infantile cerebral paralysis compared with that in healthy children. Conclusion. The use of correlation and regression analysis to study the vertical balance of patients provides a deeper understanding of the mechanisms used by the postural control system in patients with infantile cerebral paralysis to maintain a complex multilevel structure of the musculoskeletal system in equilibrium in the process of standing still. Increased ordering of the center of pressure trajectory of statokinesiograms of children with infantile cerebral paralysis can be considered as a dynamic indicator of postural control deficiency.