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Helping children with cerebral palsy who are hospitalised with respiratory difficulties secondary to aspiration.
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Situation
One in 500 children is born with cerebral palsy, a condition caused by an insult to the brain before, during or soon after birth. These children are particularly prone to aspiration of food, saliva or gastric contents into their lungs. Every year, thousands of children with cerebral palsy are hospitalised with respiratory difficulties secondary to aspiration. Unfortunately the tests available to diagnose aspiration are not particularly good. Sparks researchers are trying to find out whether an enzyme called pepsin which is normally found in the stomach, can be used as a test of aspiration in children with cerebral palsy.