IPHREHAB : HYPOTONIA AND ETIOLOGY

IPHREHAB

HYPOTONIA


Disorders of muscle tone Hypotonia

• Hypotonia is a condition of abnormally low muscle tone, often involving reduced muscle strength.
• Hypotonia is not a specific medical disorder, but a potential manifestation of many different diseases and disorders that affect motor nerve control by the brain or muscle strength. 
• Recognizing hypotonia, even in early infancy, is usually relatively straightforward, but diagnosing the underlying cause can be difficult and often unsuccessful.

§

• The long-term effects of hypotonia on a child's development and later life depend primarily on the severity of the muscle weakness and the nature of the cause.  
• Some disorders have a specific treatment but the principal treatment for most hypotonia of idiopathic or neurological cause is physical therapy to help the person compensate for the neuromuscular disability .

Etiology of Hypotonia

§

• Congenital - i.e. present from birth (presenting within 6 months) 

§

• Genetic disorders are the most common cause

Down's syndrome - most common

3-Methylcrotonyl-CoA carboxylase deficiency

Achondroplasia

Aicardi syndrome

Canavan disease

Centronuclear myopathy

Familial dysautonomia

Infantile spinal muscular atrophy

Krabbe disease

Leigh's disease

Marfan's syndrome

Menkes syndrome

Methylmalonic acidemia

Nonketotic Hyperglycinemia (NKH) or Glycine Encephalopathy (GCE)

Prader-Willi syndrome

Tay-Sachs disease

Trisomy 13

22q13 deletion syndrome

FG Syndrome

Developmental Disability

Cerebellar ataxia (congenital) 

Dysfunction in Sensory Integration (DSI) 

Developmental Dyspraxia 

Hypothyroidism (congenital) 

Hypotonic Cerebral palsy 

Teratogenesis from in utero exposure to Benzodiazepines 

Acquired

Genetic 

1. Muscular dystrophy (including Myotonic dystrophy) - most common 
2. Metachromatic leukodystrophy 

• Infections 

Encephalitis

Guillian-Barre syndrome

Infant botulism

Meningitis

Poliomyelitis

Sepsis

§

• Autoimmunity disorders  

Myasthenia gravis- most common

Abnormal vaccine reaction

§

• Metabolic disorder

Hypervitaminosis

Kernicterus

Rickets

§

• Neurological

Traumatic brain injury, such as the damage that is caused by Shaken Baby Syndrome

Lower Motor Neuron Lesions

Upper Motor Neuron Lesions

§

• Miscellaneous  

Central nervous system dysfunction, including Cerebellar lesions

Hypothyroidism

Other names for hypotonia

• Low Muscle Tone 
• Benign Congenital Hypotonia 
• Congenital Hypotonia 
• Congenital Muscle Hypotonia 
• Congenital Muscle Weakness 
• Amyotonia Congenita 
• Floppy Baby Syndrome 
• Infantile Hypotonia