Main diseases of the nervous system in children: a narrative review

Abstract

© 2019, Sociedad Venezolana de Farmacologia y de Farmacologia Clinica y Terapeutica. All rights reserved. In children the appearance of neurological disorders is associated with embryonic development until early childhood, these imply an important socioeconomic burden for the family nucleus, as well as for the health sector. It is important to have clear knowledge about the most frequent neurological alterations in this age group, which affect the development of the nervous system and the embryological mechanisms that are compromised. Among these diseases, there are congenital diseases such as anencephaly, holoprosencephaly, and spina bifida, such as those common in central nervous system group alterations. There are also other pathologies linked to the cranial nerves and the autonomic nervous system, as well as childhood cerebral palsy that is a group of disorders that affect the psychomotor child development associated with lesions during brain development with various risk factors such as genetic malformations, peritnatal asphyxia, among others. Other types of diseases that affect the nervous system are tumors, the most frequent being medublastoma, glioma, and ependymoma. Similarly, seizures constitute a broad heterogeneous syndrome that can be caused by some of the previously exposed diseases or be found as a unique condition, in general this type of disease generates a burden on different levels for both children and their caregivers. Therefore, prevention or timely diagnosis is essential through assertive pregnancy control since they are conditions that can be detected during pregnancy.