german measles and hemiplegia CP

[buey]

Hi,

When i was 1 year old i had fever and collapse so my parents brought me to the hospital, i didn't wake up for couple days. my doctor found out that i had german measles and he gave me measles injection. After 2 weeks come back from the hospital, i had weakness on my right side body. I had MRI couple years ago, and it show longstanding left hemicranial atrophy with atrophic changes in the left cerebral hemisphere. there is asymmetry of the hippocampal formation with the left eing smaller and showing milldly prolonged T2. I am on drug trial at the moment, i'm taking madopar 200mg/50mg.
Can anyone let me know what's going on with me? because i'm confuse if i have cerebral palsy/parkinson/ hemiplegia.i have problem walking sometimes, i have to dragged my right foot and my right hand is stiff n hurting.

Thanks

[Neuro Forum]

Thanks for using the forum. I am happy to address your questions, and my answer will be based on the information you provided here. Please make sure you recognize that this forum is for educational purposes only, and it does not substitute for a formal office visit with your doctor.

Without the ability to examine you, obtain a history, and review your MRI (which is not one of our roles on this website), it is difficult for me to tell you what exactly you have. However, I will try to provide you with some information.

I can understand your confusion with your diagnosis, as I'm sure you have heard many medical terms used. A lot of these terms are just descriptions, not diagnoses, so you may have more than one or all of them. For example, hemiplegia is just a term doctors use to describe weakness on one side of the body, which it sounds like you suffer from. Given your MRI findings, which suggest that the left side of your brain suffered an insult early on in your life (such as due to, for example, an infection such as German measles), and the way your describe yourself dragging your right foot, it is likely that you have weakness on the right side of your body, and thus hemiplegia.

The same holds true when doctors use the term parkinsonism. This is not meant to imply you have Parkinson's Disease, but rather parkinsonism is used to describe certain features that resemble parkinson's disease, such as stiffness, tremor, or slowness of movement. Parkinsonism can be due to a variety of things, including early infection in childhood, such as it sounds like occurred in your case.

Cerebral palsy is again a very broad term that may be over-used in the medical community. It refers to a variety of neurologic disorders that start early in life and affect body movement or muscle coordination. When used, it is meant to imply that whatever abnormalities are occurring are static, meaning they are not progressing, that whatever process caused the damage does not continue to do so.

Regarding the diagnosis of German measles early in life, it is very difficult for me to comment on this. However, your MRI findings again suggest that the left side of your brain was affected by some sort of process early in life. This could have been infection, inflammation (such as an encephalitis, one of which is called Rassmussen's encephalitis, a stroke early in life, or trauma etc), or a developmental syndrome that causes one side of the brain to develop less than the other. In any case, it is likely in your case that this was a one-time insult, meaning that continuing brain damage is not occurring. The reason you suffer from symptoms on the right side of your body is because the left side of the brain controls a large part of the movement, sensation, and coordination on the right side of your body. Stiffness, such as the stiffness in your hand, is a long-term consequence of an injury to the brain. Stiffness may be due to spasticity, or increased tone in the nerves that supply your hand, dystonia, which is a process in which more than one muscle group is contracting, or both. Spasticity and dystonia both have treatments that can help relieve your symptoms, such as medopar, and botox injection into the stiff muscles.

Please understand that the discussion above is largely speculation. You are asking important questions, and I strongly suggest you raise these with your neurologist so that you can better understand your diagnosis and what to expect.

Thank you for using the forum I hope you find this information useful good luck.

[buey]

Hi Joanna,

I just wonder if you can tell me if i have to see my neurologist as soon as possible or i just need to see my local doctor. My specialist prescribed me Madopar for my weakness on my right side body. Since i took the medication, my hand and foot cramps and i have difficulty sleep, and sometimes i fell dizzy and nausea.

Thanks