EEG findings in West syndrome a follow-up of 20 patients

Clinical and EEG findings of 36 patients with West syndrome (WS) were reported. Twenty patients (7 males, 13 females; mean age 7.4 months at the first EEG examination) were followed for a mean period of 19.3 months. Fifty per cent of the 8 cases with cryptogenic SW showed a full recovery, 2 cases showed persistence of psychomotor retardation or seizures and 2 of both these features. At the end of follow-up period, 92% of the 12 patients with symptomatic WS showed a psychomotor retardation and 75% a persistence of seizures. EEG pattern was a typical hypsarrhythmic one in 11 patients and atypical in the remaining cases. The typical pattern correlated with a better outcome with full recovery in 27.3% compared with 11.1% in the group with atypical EEG. Moreover EEG monitoring was useful for the evaluation of therapeutic response and in the follow-up of the disease, showing a correlation with clinical course, incidence of spasms and outcome.