Early infantile epileptic encephalopathy with suppression burst: Ohtahara syndrome.

Eleven infants with neonatal onset of intractable epilepsy are described, who showed the clinical and electroencephalographic features of Ohtahara syndrome. With time, transition to West and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes occurred. No cause could be found in eight cases. All nine survivors are severely mentally and physically handicapped and continue to have seizures. Early infantile epileptic encephalopathy represents the earliest of the age-dependent epileptic encephalopathies.