Worster-Drought syndrome is a form of congenital suprabulbar paresis that occurs in some children with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

. It is caused by inadequate development of the

corticobulbar tract In neuroanatomy, the corticobulbar (or corticonuclear) tract is a two-neuron white matter motor pathway connecting the motor cortex in the cerebral cortex to the medullary pyramids, which are part of the brainstem's medulla oblongata (also call ...

s and causes problems with the mouth and tongue including impaired swallowing. A similar syndrome in adults is called anterior opercular syndrome. A 1986 study of a family in which multiple members had Worster-Drought syndrome suggested it might be hereditary. A 2000 review of cases classified Worster-Drought Syndrome as a form of cerebral palsy, caused by early damage to the brain, but identified no obvious causes during gestation or birth and found some families with a history of the condition. The syndrome was named after

Cecil Charles Worster-Drought Cecil Charles Worster-Drought (2 August 1888–27 October 1971) was an English physician and neurologist. He discovered and named Worster-Drought syndrome. He was one of the founders of Moor House School, Oxted Oxted is a town and civi ...

, the doctor who described it in 1956.

References

Sources

* * Malcolm Ray McNeil, ''Clinical Management of Sensorimotor Speech Disorders'', New York: Thieme, 1997
p. 407

Bianca Specht-Moser, "Die Behandlung des Kausystems in der Kinder- und Jugendneurorehabilitation - Elemente eines Rehabilitationspfades"
MS Thesis,

Danube University Krems The University for Continuing Education Krems () is an Austrian university specializing in further education for working professionals. It is located in Krems an der Donau, Lower Austria. Name The Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Re ...

, September 2004 (pdf, German) Cerebral palsy and other paralytic syndromes Syndromes {{Disease-stub}