How long can I live with microcephaly? Generally speaking, the survival time of microcephaly is about 5-10 years, which is only an estimate, some patients with serious disease may survive less than 5 years, while patients with milder disease may survive more than 10 years if they are well taken care of. The cause of cerebellar atrophy is still not very clear. After having cerebellar atrophy, the main manifestations are unclear speech, unclear composition, swallowing difficulties, walking difficulties, uncoordinated limb movements, and easy to fall. As patients have difficulty eating, they are prone to aspiration, which leads to recurrent pneumonia, and the respiratory function decreases due to the slow movement of the limbs. Patients often die because of pneumonia, and complications such as urinary tract infections. Microcephaly itself is not life-threatening.