Cerebral Palsy: A Historical Review

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a term that has been applied over the years to a group of children with motor disability and related service requirements. The first conceptions of cerebral palsy and our knowledge about etiology and pathogeny allow us to assume that cerebral palsy existed in the Ancient World. Although there is lack of detailed medical descriptions from before the nineteenth century, mentions to cerebral palsy can be found in representational art, literary sources, and paleopathology; however, because of the poor medical documentation, the diagnosis of cerebral palsy must remain a more or less well-justified supposition.