Case Report: Capitalizing on Development and Activity-Dependent Plasticity, an Interaction With Pediatric-Onset Spinal Cord Injury

MacKenzie Goode-Roberts; Kathryn Noonan; Danielle Stout; Margaret Calvery; Kyle Brothers; Nicole Williams Doonan; Andrea L Behrman

doi:10.3389/fped.2022.804622

Case Report: Capitalizing on Development and Activity-Dependent Plasticity, an Interaction With Pediatric-Onset Spinal Cord Injury

Front Pediatr. 2022 Mar 29:10:804622. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.804622. eCollection 2022.

Authors

MacKenzie Goode-Roberts¹, Kathryn Noonan¹, Danielle Stout¹, Margaret Calvery^{2

3}, Kyle Brothers⁴, Nicole Williams Doonan⁵, Andrea L Behrman⁶

Affiliations

¹ UofL Health, Frazier Rehab Institute, Kosair Charities Center for Pediatric NeuroRecovery, Louisville, KY, United States.
² Norton Children's Medical Group, Louisville, KY, United States.
³ Department of Pediatrics, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, United States.
⁴ Norton Children's Research Institute, Affiliated With the University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, United States.
⁵ Department of Neurology, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, St. Paul, MN, United States.
⁶ Department of Neurological Surgery, Kosair Charities Endowed Chair in Pediatric NeuroRecovery, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, United States.

Abstract

Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) in infancy halts typical development secondary to paralysis/paresis and the limited ability to engage with the environment. Traditional therapies further restrict a child via bracing, equipment, and medications. In contrast, activity-based restorative therapies (ABRT) promote activation of the neuromuscular system below the level of injury and affords a more typical sensorimotor experience.

Case description: A premature male infant exhibiting hypotonia, poor head control, and extremity weakness was diagnosed at age 5 months with a remote incomplete upper cervical SCI based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), presumed to have occurred perinatally. From 4 to 15 months of age, he received physical, occupational and speech therapies. Enrolled in an ABRT program at 15 months, he was unable to sit, pull-to-stand, stand, or walk and had upper extremity impairments. Results of the Bayley-III Scales of Infant and Toddler Development revealed gross and fine motor scores consistent with a 4-month-old.

Methods: Activity-based restorative therapies was provided 5 day/week: 1.5 h of activity-based locomotor training and 1 h of activity-based occupational therapy.

Results: Activity-based restorative therapies are reported for 177 sessions and are on-going. Improvements are noted in trunk control, standing, walking, grasp, in-hand manipulation, and associated kinematics. Bayley-III fine motor score improved to that of a 16-month-old and gross motor score to that of a 7-month-old.

Discussion: While the two treatment periods (i.e., 4-15 months old and 15-24 months) were each ∼9 months, the child's accelerated progress toward typical development during the latter, ABRT period is noteworthy. In comparison to the period of traditional therapies in which paralysis was compounded by a restrictive environment and compensation, ABRT provided a potentially rich sensorimotor experience with an emphasis on active weight-bearing and proper kinematics to activate the neuromuscular system below the lesion in an age-appropriate, task-specific context of activities. Improved physical capacity enabled exploration more typically associated with development at this age expanding the positive impact to other developmental domains.

Keywords: activity-based restorative therapies; development; infancy; plasticity; spinal cord injury (SCI).

Publication types

Case Reports