162 children with infantile spasms were treated with ACTH at the Children's Hospital, Helsinki, and at the Aurora Hospital, Helsinki, during 1960--76. In a large proportion (37%) of the children the treatment caused pronounced side effects, and the mortality was 4.9%. The most common complications were infections: septic infections, pneumonias, and urinary and gastrointestinal infections. Other...

Purpose : The aims of this study were to investigate the long-term outcomes in children with infantile spasms (IS) and to identify the prognostic factors influencing their neurodevelopment. Methods : We retrospectively evaluated seventy two children over five years old who were treated for IS at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea, between 1994 and 2007. Forty-three children were contacted by tel...

clinical overview The early epileptic encephalopathies are a group of conditions that all manifest with three major diagnostic criteria: medically refractory seizures, diffuse encephalopathy and a poor developmental outcome. These syndromes include early infantile epileptic encephalopathy (EEIE, also known as Otahara’s syndrome), severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (Dravet’s syndrome), infanti...

Objectives: Among patients with West Syndrome (WS), the underlying brain dysfunction is considered to be the major determinant of cognitive outcome. However, regardless of whether the WS type is symptomatic or cryptogenic, patients with infantile spasms may have a favourable or grim prognosis. The purpose of this study was to utilize electroencephalography (EEG) to guide treatment, and to asses...