Dysport Provides Relief For Children With Lower Limb Spasticity

Ann Tilton, MD, Director of the Gilda Trautman Newman Rehabilitation Center, Professor of Clinical Neurology and Pediatrics and Chief of the Section of Child Neurology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, discussed the tremendous impact the new Dysport data would have on pediatric patient care.

“Even though we’ve been doing botulinum toxins for a long time in children, it’s never really been approved before. Not only did this bring us to an approval with the FDA, but also, this product actually had a longer duration, which means fewer injections for the children,” Tilton told MD Magazine.

According to Tilton, “It was really kind of eye opening that you could have an effect like this that really worked in kids and lasted longer. Kids like it, the financial side likes it, and we like it.”

Tilton said that she often asked her medical students how many people they thought had cerebral palsy: 1/1,000,000; 1/100,000; or 1/10,000? They usually said: 1/10 or 20,000.

But, the truth is, about 3.6/1,000 people have cerebral palsy — classically after the age of 2. However, Tilton highlighted that although the numbers haven’t changed in 40 years, and it seems liked researchers haven’t made a difference; they have – in premature babies.

When Tilton sees her patients, she wants to understand why they have it and often request history of prematurity. She wants to prove it diagnostically and if it looks like this is something they would gain function if they had less tone or spastic in their legs, “they will talk about it.”

While the current data provides positive news for this patient group, Tilton said that the legs were the first step when thinking about Dysport specifically in cerebral palsy. Her team has moved onto researching upper extremities. The question that lies ahead is: “now that they have it, what are our options other than symptomatic therapy or restoration?”

Regardless, Tilton commented that this is a very exciting field; “you get to carry toys for the kids.”