William John Little was one of the first orthopedic surgeons to research congenital malformations and their causes in the nineteenth century and presented preliminary research on a condition modernly known as cerebral palsy, a condition of varying severity that affects a person’s ability to move. Little worked throughout the United Kingdom for the majority of the time he practiced medicine, and eventually founded one of the first orthopedic infirmaries, the Royal Orthopedic Hospital in London, England. Throughout his career, Little studied congenital malformations, which are medical conditions inherited before birth, as well as how certain medical circumstances during delivery affect the neonate. In 1861, he described a condition with motor, behavioral, and cognitive irregularities in neonates, linked with oxygen deprivation during birth. Little’s research on that condition, originally called Little’s disease, and modernly, spastic cerebral palsy, was one of the first accounts of cerebral palsy in infants.
Details
- William John Little (1810–1894)
- Ellis, Brianna (Author)
- Darby, Alexis (Author)
- Lienhard, Dina A. (Editor)
- Arizona State University. School of Life Sciences. Center for Biology and Society. Embryo Project Encyclopedia. (Publisher)
- Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
- Birth injuries--Complications
- Cerebral Palsy
- Cerebral palsied
- Muscle Spasticity
- Spasticity
- Spasticity--Diagnosis
- Abnormalities, Human
- Congenital Abnormalities
- Birth Defects
- Nervous system--Abnormalities
- Brain--Abnormalities
- CP (Cerebral Palsy)
- Cerebral Palsy, Mixed
- Spastic diplegia cerebral palsy
- Cerebral palsy, spastic, diplegic
- Cerebral Palsy, Spastic Quadriplegic, 1
- Cerebral Palsy, Ataxic, Autosomal Recessive
- Ataxic Cerebral Palsy
- Microphthalmia and mental deficiency
- Cerebral Palsy, Athetoid
- Congenital Defects
- Parturition
- Hypoxia
- Spastic Diplegia
- People
- Disorders
- congenital malformations