Infantile spasms—A multidisciplinary challenge

1987

Is it not surpnsmg that we are unaware of an earlier description of infantile spasms (IS) than that of Dr West from 1841 [1] , though this is hardly a new disease? May be, it needed an experienced observer to delineate these paroxysmal behavioral patterns against the background of abnormal psychomotor development. Up to now , we are by no means less puzzled by this manifestation of seizures than our professional forefather. It was only recently that we realized that the West syndrome consists not only of more or less typical serial seizures, usually a pathognomonic EEG pattern, and developmental arrest [2] , but has to be regarded as an encephalopathy [3-5] interfering with virtually all hi…