BOTULINUM TOXIN-A PREVENTS THE DEVELOPMENT OF CONTRACTURES IN THE HEREDITARY SPASTIC MOUSE

The hereditary spastic mouse was studied as a model of cerebral palsy in childhood to test the hypothesis that intramuscular botulinum. toxi n A would prevent the development of calf-muscle contractures. A prosp ective randomised controlled trial of calf injection with botulinum A compared with injection of normal saline was performed on juvenile mic e. At maturity, the calf muscles of the spastic mice were 16 per cent shorter than those of their normal siblings. The calf muscles of spast ic mice injected with botulinum toxin A grew to within 2 per cent of n ormal length. This difference in mature muscle length was highly signi ficant.