Thrombophilia: a risk factor for cerebral palsy?

BACKGROUND The cause of cerebral palsy remains unknown in most cases. Factor V Leiden mutation, a common cause of hereditary thrombophilia, has been associated with CP. OBJECTIVES To analyze the prevalence of factor V Leiden (G1691A), prothrombin (G20210A), and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (C677T) mutations in children with CP. METHODS Sixty-one Jewish and Arab children with CP were studied for the presence of the three gene mutations associated with thrombophilia. RESULTS We found that 41% of the children with CP and 33% of the controls carry one or more of the studied mutations (P = 0.348). The prevalence of the factor V mutation was 27.9% in CP and 16.4% in controls (P= 0.127). The frequency of the other two genetic factors was even less significant. The FVL mutation was found in 35% of the Arab CP patients (15/42) and in 22% of the controls from the same population (9/40) (P= 0.067). CONCLUSIONS Each of the genetic factors studied was shown to be related to CP. Despite the high frequency of FVL among the studied patients, we were unable to prove a significant correlation between FVL and CP, mainly because this factor is frequent in the Arab control group. In this population a trend toward significance can be seen (P= 0.067). Larger studies are needed to validate the significance of these results.