[Affective respiratory and reflex paroxysms--evaluation of anamnestic data, clinical manifestations and therapy]

The authors elaborated data, using the retrospective method, of a group of 146 patients with affective respiratory and reflex paroxysms. They focused attention on clinical manifestations of the disease, anamnestic data suggesting possible damage or immaturity of stem structures, the influence of heredity and the family environment. They found that in 63.7% the disease was manifested before the age of 1 year, most frequently at the age of 9-12 months. The cyanotic type of paroxysms was found in 67.5% of the patients, the pallid type in 21% and 3.5% of the patients suffered from both types of paroxysms. In 27.4% perinatal risks were recorded. The influence of a family-history was statistically significant in relation to the patient's age during the first attack: in patients with a positive family-history the mean age being by 1.8 months lower. 82.9% of the patients had a normal neurological finding, the EEG was evaluated as normal in 89.6% of 125 thus examined children. Psychological examinations made in 12 children revealed in all instances anomalies of personality with a predominance of lack of compliance and adaptability to the environment. Deterioration of the health status as a result of affective respiratory and reflex paroxysms was not recorded in any of the patients.