Abstract
In the fall of 2000, the Taiwan Child Neurology Society performed a retrospective
survey of West syndrome that occurred in 1998 and 1999 in Taiwan. Questionnaires were
sent to the child neurologists in 15 major teaching hospitals or medical centers throughout
Taiwan. There were totally 41 cases in these 2 years. Among these 41 cases, 35 had
complete data and were enrolled for analysis. The male to female ratio was 1:1.19.
The mean age of onset was 6.0±4.9 months old. Twenty nine percent were classified
as cryptogenic and 71% were symptomatic. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) was given
to 40% of these patients. The initial response rate was 78.6% and the recurrence rate
was 36.4%. For those patients not receiving ACTH, vigabatrin and valproic acid were
two of the most common choices. At the final visit, 37% patients remained seizure-free,
29% were still suffering from the same seizure, and 34% changed to other seizure types.
The final developmental status was normal in 14%, mildly retarded in 20%, and moderate
to severely retarded in 66% of the patients.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
August 17,
2001
Received in revised form:
August 14,
2001
Received:
May 17,
2001
Identification
Copyright
© 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
