title: Current treatment of West syndrome in Japan.
abstract: About 10 years have passed since a previous survey on the treatment of West syndrome in Japan. To elucidate current practice, a questionnaire was sent to 113 institutes. It included (1) the drugs used for the treatment, (2) their dosage, and (3) the dosage and the schedule of adrenocorticotropic hormone therapy. Response rate was 51.3%. Adrenocorticotropic hormone, valproic acid, vitamin B(6), and zonisamide were frequently used. Vitamin B(6) was used most frequently as the first-choice drug followed by valproic acid, zonisamide, and adrenocorticotropic hormone. The most frequently used dose of synthetic adrenocorticotropic hormone-Z was 0.0125 mg/kg/d. Adrenocorticotropic hormone was administered every day for 2 weeks and then tapered off in more than 80% of the institutes. Although therapeutic strategy and drug usage have not changed largely during these 10 years, 2 alterations were observed: an increased use of zonisamide and a shortened duration of adrenocorticotropic hormone therapy.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan. ttsuji@med.nagoya
authors: Takeshi
authors: T
authors: Tsuji
authors: Akihisa
authors: A
authors: Okumura
authors: Hiroshi
authors: H
authors: Ozawa
authors: Masatoshi
authors: M
authors: Ito
authors: Kazuyoshi
authors: K
authors: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007555:Isoxazoles; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D013036:Spasms, Infantile / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014635:Valproic Acid; D025101:Vitamin B 6 / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000078305:Zonisamide
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D007555:Isoxazoles; D000078305:Zonisamide; D014635:Valproic Acid; D025101:Vitamin B 6; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone