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Query: UMLS:C0025362 (mental retardation)
 15,878 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Myoclonic jerks occur in a number of different syndromes. There is many classifications of myoclonus. It is preferred the Fejerman classification, slightly modified that present the following five groups: 1. Myoclonus without encephalopathy and without epilepsy, which includes physiological myoclonus; 2. Encephalopathies with non epileptic myoclonus, which includes Kinsbourne syndrome and certain types of hyperekplexia which pose differential diagnosis problems with reflex myoclonic epilepsy; 3. Progressive encephalopathies with myoclonic seizures which includes typical and atypical progressive myoclonus epilepsies; 4. Epilepsies and epileptic encephalopathies with myoclonic seizures, which includes severe epilepsies which leads to mental retardation, as Otahara syndrome, West syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and other epilepsies which present sometimes myoclonic seizures, as Landau-Kleffner syndrome, 5. Comprises true myoclonic epilepsies, differentiating syndromes recognized as idiopathic, -benign myoclonic epilepsy of infancy, reflex form of benign myoclonic epilepsy in infancy, eyelid myoclonic with absences, perioral myoclonic with absences and juvenile myoclonic epilepsy-, cryptogenic-severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy, myoclonic-astatic epilepsy and epilepsy with myoclonic absences-, and symptomatic as the generalized myoclonus in children with static encephalopathies. The epileptic syndromes of the last group are described. Despite this classification, apparently clear, there is still a great deal of confusion and in clinical practice, many cases are difficult to classify.
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PMID:[Myoclonus and myoclonic epilepsies in childhood]. 1071 97

Although for most children epilepsy is a relatively benign disorder, for some, epilepsy can be designated as "catastrophic" because the seizures are so difficult to control and because they are strongly associated with mental retardation. The catastrophic childhood epilepsies include uncommon disorders such as early infantile epileptic encephalopathy with suppression burst, severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy, and epilepsy with myoclonic-astatic seizures. There are other syndromes that are relatively common such as infantile spasms, Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, and Sturge-Weber syndrome. Many children with catastrophic epilepsy have the seizures as a result of underlying brain abnormalities that will inevitably lead to mental retardation whether or not they have seizures. In some patients, however, the mental retardation appears to be caused by the seizures. Developmental plasticity provides children with an opportunity to recover from significant brain injuries. However, the plasticity may also be the cause of the mental retardation. In such patients, control of the seizures may lead to more normal intellectual development. Thus, every effort should be made to control seizures in children with catastrophic epilepsy.
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PMID:Catastrophic epilepsy in childhood. 1088 34

Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) is one of the most severe types of childhood epilepsy. It is usually resistant to treatment and associated with mental retardation. To delineate the risk factors associated with the outcome of LGS, we evaluated, in a retrospective and multicentre study, the course of the disease, EEG tracings, and intellectual function in 101 patients. Inclusion criteria were the presence of tonic seizures as well as slow spike and wave complexes in the EEG. The average documented observation period was 16 years (range 4-31 years). Overall, the intellectual and neurological outcome was poor. At the last follow-up, 38% of the patients could not speak, 21% were unable to walk and only 4% were free of seizures. Four independent risk factors for severe mental retardation were identified by multivariate analysis. These were in a decreasing order of importance: nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE), odds ratio (OR) 25.2, a previous diagnosis of West syndrome (OR 11.6), a symptomatic etiology of epilepsy (OR 9.5), and an early age at onset of epilepsy (OR 4.7). The results highlight the association between NCSE and the severity of mental retardation in patients with LGS; this association appears to be independent of symptomatic etiology. Our data provide an indirect evidence that, at least in some of the patients, NCSE is not only a concomitant feature, but also a cause of severe mental retardation.
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PMID:Nonconvulsive status epilepticus--a possible cause of mental retardation in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. 1107 Nov 39

Epilepsy is very frequent in childhood. Learning disabilities in epilepsy are not very well known. Even if mental retardation has been studied, very few teams have focused on the different cognitive functions in children with epilepsy. Several neuropsychological studies have been carried out but only on epileptic syndromes as West syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. It looks very important to study the neuropsychological profiles in the different types of epilepsy in childhood (generalized and partial epilepsy, idiopathic and non idiopathic). Different tools are now available for detection of cognitive deficits.
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PMID:[Epilepsy and childhood learning disabilities]. 1182 46

The long-term effects of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) on behaviour were studied in 19 children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. We used the following stimulation parameters: output current: 112 to 2mA; signal frequency: 30Hz frequency; signal pulse width: 500&mgr;s; signal 'on and off' time: 30s 'on,' 3min 'off.' The test battery consisted of cognitive tests assessing mental age and quality of life measurements assessing independency, behavioural problems, and mood. The results show relatively small changes in the behavioural outcomes, concurrent with the modest effects of VNS on seizure frequency (an average of 20.6% seizure reduction). When baseline measurements are compared with the follow-up measures, neither the cognitive measure nor the quality of life measures show any deterioration and the cognitive measure (mental age) showed mild positive changes (gain of 4.2 months mental age during the follow-up period). None of the changes were statistically significant. Treatment effect was most prominent in the group with the highest mental age at baseline, which suggests that mental retardation is a negative prognostic factor for VNS treatment. Moreover, in this specific patient group, treatment effect did not increase with treatment duration. Some evidence during follow-up suggests a direct positive effect of VNS on behavioural function, independent of changes in seizure frequency. Long-term treatment with VNS is not associated with adverse behavioural effects. Mental retardation is a negative prognostic factor for the efficacy of VNS.
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PMID:Long-term effects of 24-month treatment with vagus nerve stimulation on behaviour in children with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. 1260 71

Infantile spasms is a catastrophic form of epilepsy found only in infants and young toddlers, with the peak incidence between 4 - 7 months of age. Estimated prevalence is 1 in 2000 - 6000 live births. There are many causes of infantile spasms, including tuberous sclerosis, hypoxic-ischaemic injury, congenital infectious diseases, inborn errors of metabolism, malformations of cortical development, genetic syndromes such as Aicardi's syndrome and chromosomal abnormalities. A small percentage of patients have idiopathic infantile spasms, with normal growth and development prior to the onset of infantile spasms and no known aetiology. Because of the poor prognosis of infantile spasms, treatment is usually aggressive and immediate, with the hopes of altering the natural history of the disease. The majority of patients with infantile spasms have a poor prognosis with intractable epilepsy, severe developmental delays and/or significant cognitive impairments. Of all patients with infantile spasms, 70 - 90% have mental retardation. Furthermore, 20 - 50% of patients with infantile spasms develop Lennox-Gastaut syndrome with multiple seizure types, cognitive impairments and a markedly abnormal electroencephalogram, arguably one of the most difficult epilepsy syndromes to treat. Infantile spasms are resistant to most of the standard antiepileptic drugs. Adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH) or oral steroids result in a significant reduction of seizures, as well as an improvement in the electroencephalogram. Some studies have indicated that infants treated with ACTH within the first month of onset have a more favourable prognosis. Vigabatrin has also been shown to be effective in the treatment, although it is not yet FDA-approved in the US. Valproate has also been used in the treatment of infantile spasms, with an efficacy of approximately 25 - 40%. However, in the very young infant, it does carry a high risk of fatal hepatotoxicity. Surgical resection may be the treatment of choice for those infants with focal cortical dysplasia and intractable infantile spasms. Emerging therapeutic possibilities include topiramate, felbamate, lamotrigine, zonisamide and perhaps levetiracetam. With the advancements in molecular biology, genetics and neuroimaging, there is the hope of novel therapies in the future.
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PMID:Infantile spasms. 1459 57

Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is an epileptic encephalopathy characterized by multiple seizure types, mental retardation, and a slow spike-and-wave pattern on electroencephalography. Medical intractability is common. We identified a case series of six patients diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in which levetiracetam was initiated as add-on therapy for the management of seizures. At follow-up, four patients experienced 100% reduction of their myoclonic seizures; two patients had greater than 50% reduction of their atonic seizures, and four patients experienced 100% reduction in their generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Tonic seizures were not responsive to treatment. The most common side effect was irritability; the most positive change involved alertness. In this small sample, levetiracetam appeared effective in reducing seizures in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. This preliminary study is limited by its retrospective design and small number of patients, but positive findings warrant a larger scale, multicenter study.
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PMID:Levetiracetam in the treatment of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. 1508 3

We report a case of a 14-year-old boy with a dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor and mental retardation with intractable seizures, which were demonstrated to be predominantly tonic seizures by video-electroencephalography (EEG). He did not have any electrographic evidence of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a right parietal dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor. He has been seizure free since surgical removal of the tumor. Clinicians need to be aware that tonic seizures can be associated with an underlying focal pathology that might be treatable.
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PMID:Focal cerebral pathology presenting as tonic seizures. 1697 Aug 94

West syndrome (WS) is a severe age-dependent intractable epilepsy in infants that frequently results in mental retardation. ACTH or glucocorticoids are among several effective treatments in WS, but the relative advantages and disadvantages of these two therapies are still unknown. In a previous study, liposteroid (LS; dexamethasone palmitate) was used for the treatment of WS and compared with ACTH therapy in relation to therapeutic effect and adverse reactions. In this study, a new regimen of LS therapy was tried for WS and its related syndrome in an attempt to hasten the onset of the therapeutic effect and reduce the relapse rate. A single intravenous injection of LS (0.25mg/kg) was administered 12 times in 1 month (total dosage 3.0mg/kg) to four patients with WS and with post-WS aged 5-25 months, and one patient with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (post-WS) aged 84 months. All five patients had daily seizures uncontrolled by conventional antiepileptic drugs, such as VPA, CZP or ZNS. Nodding spasm and hypsarrhythmia on EEG disappeared in one patient with WS within four doses. More than 50% decrease in seizures, and EEG improvement, were found in other two patients. No notable effects were seen in the other two patients. There were no clinically significant adverse reactions throughout the therapy. Efficacy can be determined in this new experimental LS therapy earlier than with conventional LS therapy. In this small study, a new protocol for LS therapy could be completed safely. This regimen may be useful for those susceptible to adverse reactions from conventional treatment or those unresponsive to other treatments.
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PMID:A new trial liposteroid (dexamethasone palmitate) therapy for intractable epileptic seizures in infancy. 1727 35

Cutis verticis gyrata describes a scalp condition where there are convoluted folds and deep furrows that resemble the surface of the cerebral cortex. We report three cases of cutis verticis gyrata that demonstrate the current classification structure. The first case is the most commonly described primary non-essential acquired form, appearing in the scalp of an 11-year-old girl with mental retardation. The second case is the primary non-essential congenital form, presenting at birth in a baby with Noonan's syndrome. An association between cutis verticis gyrata and Noonan's syndrome has been rarely described. The third case illustrates secondary cutis verticis gyrata, occurring in a 27-year-old man with discoid eczema.
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PMID:Cutis verticis gyrata: three cases with different aetiologies that demonstrate the classification system. 1753 95


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