Infantile spasm(West syndrome): Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatments
Epidemiology & Symptoms Infantile spasm (West syndrome) usually occurs between 2 and 12 months. It is known that around one in 3,000 people worldwide suffer from this disease. Infantile spasms are characterized by three distinct patterns: the epileptic syndrome, which is a key factor in distinguishing the disease from other epileptic syndromes. The first is an epileptic spasm that appears cluster-like shortly after sleeping just before going to bed. The second is developmental regression and the third is a typical EEG pattern called hypsarrhythmia. Hypsarrhythmia is a characteristic pattern that appears on the EEG. It refers to the appearance of an irregular, multi-focal high-voltage spike on the chaotic slow background as shown above. In the case of Cryptogenic West syndrome, the child undergoes normal development before the seizure is expressed. In the case of symptomatic west syndrome, the child suffers from developmental disturbance preceding seizure, which is caused by p...