Cerebral Palsy maybe/maybe not

Why there? In preemies, the brain surface is just on the shore line of the fluid filled ventricles which has least blood vessel access as no vessels cross the ventricles. Normal O2, but a low-flow pressure event will manifest here. The PVL worst area is near where tracts representing the lower legs are passing by. These tracts from the body form a boomerang shape in cross section horizontally. That shape carries certain nerve fibers away from danger. Preemie arterial & heart shunts defeat the heart’s pumping pressure.

As the low flow insult worsens, the damage spread will bring in a wider representation of the body - even a bit from the hands. Nestled in the hollow of the boomerang area, however, are other structures which are associative. As hands get more involved (the scope of injury larger) the chances that these associative areas will also suffer, increases. For that reason, in this group there is an association between more hand involvement and mild learning difficulties. The more severe PVL cases can have considerable hand and arm involvement, perhaps only on one side. Again a flow issue so it can vary with local vascularity unlike O2 lack (‘hypoxia’) which does not respect spatial boundaries.