Cerebral palsy and juvenile-onset bipolar disorder. A preliminary report.

Cerebral palsy refers to a heterogeneous group of congenital and early acquired brain disorders. Children with cerebral palsy and other brain disorders have an increased rate of psychiatric disorder. The pattern of disorder is not particularly distinctive and no specific association has been found. We report two cases of spastic diplegia of prematurity comorbid with juvenile onset bipolar disorder, which highlight some of the diagnostic difficulties in these cases. An interesting association between the periventricular leucomalacia as an aetiological factor in cerebral palsy and the white matter lesions seen on magnetic resonance imaging in cases of bipolar disorder is noted.