Muthaffar Osama Y
Section of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
Neurol Int. 2022 Mar 3;14(1):261-270. doi: 10.3390/neurolint14010021.
Infantile spasms are an age-specific epileptic disorder. They occur in infancy and early childhood. They can be caused by multiple etiologies. Structural abnormalities represent an important cause of infantile spasms. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the integral modalities in the evaluation of this condition.
The aim of this study is to review and analyze the clinical characteristics and brain MRI findings in a cohort of children diagnosed with infantile spasms.
A cohort of fifty-six children diagnosed with infantile spasms in infancy and early childhood was included. All of them underwent brain MRI for evaluation. The study was conducted in the period from January 2016 to January 2020.
Females comprised 57% of the cohort. The mean age for seizure onset was 5.9 months (SD 2.7). Forty-one patients (73%) had active epilepsy, and 51% were diagnosed with global developmental delay. Consanguinity was present in 59% of the cohort. Most of the follow-up MRIs showed structural abnormalities (84%). Hypoxia was reported in 17% of MRIs. Malformations of cortical development were seen in five patients. Brain MRI findings were normal in 16% of patients, and delayed myelination was seen in nineteen patients. Most of the children with active epilepsy (64%) and developmental delay (82%) had an abnormal brain MRI. It was noticed that abnormal second brain MRIs were more likely to be associated with active epilepsy and developmental delay ( = 0.05).
Brain MRI is an integral part of infantile spasms' clinical evaluation. Infantile spasms and abnormal brain MRI can be associated with active epilepsy and global developmental delay.
婴儿痉挛症是一种特定年龄段的癫痫性疾病。它发生于婴儿期和幼儿期。其病因可能多种多样。结构异常是婴儿痉挛症的一个重要病因。脑磁共振成像（MRI）是评估这种疾病不可或缺的检查手段之一。
本研究旨在回顾和分析一组被诊断为婴儿痉挛症的儿童的临床特征及脑MRI表现。
纳入一组56例在婴儿期和幼儿期被诊断为婴儿痉挛症的儿童。他们均接受了脑MRI检查以进行评估。研究于2016年1月至2020年1月期间进行。
该队列中女性占57%。癫痫发作的平均年龄为5.9个月（标准差2.7）。41例患者（73%）有活动性癫痫，51%被诊断为全面发育迟缓。该队列中59%有近亲结婚情况。大多数随访MRI显示有结构异常（84%）。17%的MRI报告有缺氧情况。5例患者可见皮质发育畸形。16%的患者脑MRI表现正常，19例患者可见髓鞘发育延迟。大多数有活动性癫痫的儿童（64%）和发育迟缓的儿童（82%）脑MRI异常。值得注意的是，第二次脑MRI异常更有可能与活动性癫痫和发育迟缓相关（P = 0.05）。
脑MRI是婴儿痉挛症临床评估不可或缺的一部分。婴儿痉挛症和异常脑MRI可能与活动性癫痫和全面发育迟缓有关。
