Epidemiologic features of infantile spasms in Iceland

• Published in: Epilepsia
• Main Authors: Ludvigsson, P, Olafsson, E, Sigurdardottir, S, Hauser, W A
• Other Authors: Department of Pediatrics, National University Hospital (Landspítalinn) Reykjavik, Iceland.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Science 2011
• Subjects: Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; Child; Preschool; Cross-Cultural Comparison; Epilepsy; Female; Finland; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Iceland; Incidence; Infant; Male; Prednisolone; Sex Factors; Spasms; Infantile; United States
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/120494; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1157.1994.tb02514.x

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field We determined the average annual incidence of epilepsy characterized by infantile spasms (IS) in Iceland based on the 13 cases identified in a 10-year interval (1981-1990). The cumulative incidence was 3 in 10,000 live births. Males were more frequently affected than females. All patients responded completely (10) or partially (3) to ACTH or steroid therapy. At follow-up, all children with cryptogenic IS are seizure-free and have developed normally intellectually. One of the children with cryptogenic IS has mild spastic diplegia. All children in the symptomatic group are mentally retarded, and 5 of 7 continue to have unprovoked seizures. We detected no evidence for familial aggregation, and the incidence of seizures or epilepsy did not appear to be increased in first-degree relatives of cases. The proportion of cases with a favorable outcome was greater than that reported in most clinical series.