title: Persistence of hypsarrhythmia in children beyond the age of three years.
abstract: Occurrence of hypsarrhythmia after the age of 3 years is rare. The objective of this study is to describe a group of patients who have persistence of hypsarrhythmia after the age of 3 years. The authors retrospectively reviewed the EEGs of 24 patients with hypsarrhythmia. Electroencephalographies (EEGs) were scored using a hypsarrhythmia scale. The clinical data of 7 patients with EEG scores greater than 9 at ages ≥ 3 years were analyzed. The mean age was 5.7 years (range, 3-8.7 years). EEG background amplitudes ranged from 200 to 500 µV in 5 patients and it was greater than 500 µV in the other 2. Six patients had electrodecremental responses. The etiology was developmental in 3 patients, mitochondrial disease in 2, and hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy in 2. Our study suggests that a subgroup of patients with hypsarrhythmia may not transition to a Lennox-Gastaut pattern or normalization after the age of 3 years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Hahnemann University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
authors.forename: Kandan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kulandaivel
authors.forename: Divya S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Khurana
authors.forename: Karen S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Melvin
authors.forename: Agustin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Legido
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Valencia
mesh_terms: D058256:Brain Waves / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018450:Disease Progression; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013036:Spasms, Infantile / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*