Schizencephaly

by G
(County Derry)

Hi, my 8 year old daughter was diagnosed with Schizencephaly at 1 year old. This has caused cerebral palsy which effects both her legs and her right arm. She can walk using an aid. Would your treatments benefit her in any way?


Thank you for your enquiry to our website regarding your daughter. As you may know, Schizencephaly is a rare developmental disorder characterized by abnormal slits, or clefts (s-shaped slits), in the brain's cerebral hemispheres. Individuals with clefts in both hemispheres are often developmentally delayed and have delayed speech and language skills and brain-spinal dysfunction. Individuals with smaller, clefts in one hemisphere may be weak on one side of the body and may have average or near-average intelligence. Patients with schizencephaly may also have varying degrees of microcephaly (small head size), mental retardation, hemiparesis (weakness or paralysis affecting one side of the body), or quadriparesis (weakness or paralysis affecting all four extremities), and may have reduced muscle tone (hypotonia).

Our First Step Therapy Programmes would seek to help strengthen the muscles and normalise the muscle tone. We would also try and improve the walking pattern (gait) with the long-term goal of reducing the dependence on the walking aid for getting around. Whilst no guarantees can be given, most patients have made improvements in their condition and some are now walking where they never walked before.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy in conjunction with our intensive physiotherapy may also further improve your daughter's condition.

In order to determine the potential for improvement, we would need to carry out an assessment for your daughter. Please contact us to arrange a suitable time to come to the clinic.

Regards, the First Step Therapy Team