Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0036572 (seizures)
 80,221 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Rett's syndrome, first described in Austria in 1966 by Dr. Andreas Rett, became known as such in 1983 when Dr. Bengt Hagberg in Sweden realized that he and his colleagues from France and Portugal were not the first to recognize this disorder. In Sweden the syndrome was found to occur in at least 1 per 15,000 female births by 1985, about twice that of phenylketonuria (PKU) in the same area. The syndrome is limited to girls and involves atrophy of the brain with loss of previously learned cognitive and motor skills after eighteen months of age. Although there are variations in the numerous clinical features, most girls develop seizures, muscle wasting, contractures, severe weight loss and bizarre behaviors. All races are affected and four clinical stages have been established. Nurses are more likely to become involved during the final stage of this disorder when families can no longer cope without professional intervention. A case study of a 9 year-old girl is presented.
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PMID:Rett's syndrome: a case study. 214 34

Rett syndrome consists of a progressive encephalopathy and psychomotor deterioration in young females who have appeared clinically normal until between six and eighteen months of age. The syndrome has incidence similar to that of phenylketonuria and autism in females. It has been widely recognised only since 1983. After six months of age head growth decelerates associated eventually with severe dementia, and autism, apraxia, stereotypic "hand washing" movements and loss of previously acquired skills occurs. Supportive symptoms may include breathing dysfunction, seizures, EEG abnormalities, and growth retardation. Occurrence indicates sporadic new mutations as a cause. The case histories of two patients diagnosed in New Zealand are described.
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PMID:Rett syndrome: case reports and review. 218 54

Two young males in their thirties are reported with a clinical history and examination indistinguishable from typical females with the Rett syndrome. Both had normal early development. The first patient had a regression by the end of the second year. He was late in walking, had prominent hand-wringing from the age of 4 years, and non-progressive dystonia from the age of 14 years. He is still ambulatory. Seizures which started at the age of 18 months have been easily controlled. The second patient has had a severe seizure disorder since the age of 7 months. In his early teens, he lost ambulation and his height and weight fell below the 2nd percentile. He has severe foot dystonia without spasticity. Both patients have a normal head size and no evidence of atrophy on a CT scan of the brain. Both had kyphoscoliosis in their teens. It is difficult to evaluate the incidence of such cases. Little attention being paid to the normal early development, they hide behind vague diagnoses such as cerebral palsy, static encephalopathy, and behavior disorder. Dystonia is often confused with spasticity, the lack of paralysis is not appreciated, apraxia and hand wringing are assumed to be self-stimulatory behaviors.
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PMID:The Rett syndrome in males. 234 22

In four cases of the Rett syndrome (RS) (age 3 1/2, 6, 11 and 12 years), paroxysmal activity and especially spike discharges over the central region could be blocked or attenuated by passive finger movements. This response, however, is not demonstrable in the majority of children with RS. The blocking or attenuating effect of passive movements is compared with earlier observations of central spike discharges occurring in children with benign Rolandic epilepsy. In some of these children, central spikes could be blocked by active hand movements. It was assumed that such a positive blocking response underscores the "functional" ("dysfunctional") character of the Rolandic spikes and the lack of local structural damage. In children with cerebral palsy, seizures and central spike (and evidence of structural brain damage), such a blocking response was not obtainable. Taking into consideration these earlier observations, there is reason to presume that the central spike activity found in RS is based on dysfunction rather than on structural impairment.
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PMID:Further EEG observations in children with the Rett syndrome. 234 27

Day time video records of 14 girls with the Rett syndrome (RS) (6-17, mean 7 years) were analysed to correlate episodic abnormalities in respiration, movement and electroencephalograms (EEG). Records were compared with those of 12 healthy girls (6-18, median 14 years) who hyperventilated voluntarily. Three RS girls (6-7 years) had minimal respiratory dysrhythmia and showed no correlation between EEG respiration and movement. The other 11 RS girls (6-17 years) had severe awake respiratory dysrhythmia; 10 showing hyperventilation (with hypocapnia) which alternated with active expiratory apnoeic pauses and one with the latter only. All had periods of awake regular breathing with normal respiratory gases. In these girls EEG showed non-epileptic generalised slow activity some of which was paroxysmal. In the six youngest (6-10 years) of these 11 RS girls, non-epileptic paroxysms of EEG slow activity at 1 1/2-4 Hz occurred and were associated with periods of normal breathing and normal pCO2 levels whether girls were alert, drowsy or asleep, but were uncommon during episodes of hyperventilation (and hypocapnia). In four of these girls the EEG paroxysms occupied less than or equal to 1-3% of the time during periods of respiratory dysrhythmia (81 minutes) and 8-100% of the time during alert periods with normal breathing (29 minutes), p less than or equal to 0.001 for this difference. Short bursts of EEG slowing occasionally followed prolonged apnoeic pauses. In two cases brief partial complex seizures occurred. In five of these girls stereotypic movements exacerbated during episodes of respiratory dysrhythmia and reduced during normal breathing.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Correlation of electroencephalogram, respiration and movement in the Rett syndrome. 234 29

The Rett syndrome is a progressive disorder in female patients that is characterized by autistic behavior, dementia, ataxia, loss of purposeful use of the hands, and seizures. The results of laboratory investigations are usually normal, with the exception of electroencephalography. In an attempt to understand the pathogenesis of this syndrome, we assayed biogenic amine metabolites in the cerebrospinal fluid of six patients, 2 to 15 years of age. 3-Methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethylene glycol (MHPG, a metabolite of norepinephrine), homovanillic acid (a metabolite of dopamine), and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA, a metabolite of serotonin) were quantitated by a method involving gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Levels of MHPG and homovanillic acid were significantly reduced in all the patients as compared with those in controls of similar age (P = 0.01 and 0.008, respectively). The reduction in the level of 5-HIAA was not significantly different from that in the controls (P = 0.15). These findings suggest an underlying disorder of biogenic amines in the Rett syndrome and may provide new insight into its pathogenesis.
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PMID:Reduction of biogenic amine levels in the Rett syndrome. 241 19

Rett syndrome is a progressive neurologic condition, affecting only girls and characterized by acquired microcephaly, dementia, seizures, autistic behavior, spontaneous hyperventilation, spasticity, hyperreflexia and a peculiar characteristic stereotypic movement disorder. A review of 35 EEGs (obtained over 0-8.5 years of follow-up) in 9 such patients revealed a striking age-related change in the electroencephalographic pattern. Often initially normal, the EEG shows a variety of epileptiform abnormalities but intact background activity between 3 and 5 years. Between 5 and 10 years of age, the background activity exhibits some slowing, epileptiform abnormalities persist and paroxysmal high-amplitude theta activity occurs over extended periods, related to spontaneous hyperventilation. After 10 years, there is a general reduction in the epileptiform activity but further slowing of the background rhythms is usually observed. As all other laboratory tests are mostly normal in Rett syndrome, EEG promises to be a powerful tool in confirming the diagnosis in a compatible setting, in follow-up of these patients, and in objective evaluation of any future therapeutic interventional modalities in this serious and common condition.
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PMID:Electroencephalographic findings in Rett syndrome. 242 89

Diagnostic criteria for Rett syndrome (RS) were developed by representatives of the International Rett Syndrome Association and the Centers for Disease Control for use in future clinical and epidemiological studies. Necessary criteria are: normal prenatal and perinatal period; normal psychomotor development through the first 6 months of life; normal head circumference at birth, with subsequent deceleration of head growth; loss of purposeful hand skills; severely impaired expressive and receptive language; apparent severe mental retardation; and gait apraxia and truncal apraxia/ataxia. Supportive criteria include breathing dysfunction, seizures, spasticity, scoliosis, and growth retardation. The diagnosis of RS is considered tentative until 2 to 5 years of age. The differential diagnosis includes other disorders associated with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, and seizure disorders. These diagnostic criteria for RS should foster reliable communication among investigators and enhance the epidemiological and clinical research of this important disorder.
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PMID:Diagnostic criteria for Rett syndrome. The Rett Syndrome Diagnostic Criteria Work Group. 245 7

The Rett syndrome is a postnatal developmental and neurological disorder seen only in girls. Many of the symptoms of this disorder, such as microcephaly, stereotypy, respiratory disturbances and seizures, are analogous to the effects of the administration of beta-endorphin or other opioids in animals. Preliminary reports of elevated beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity in the cerebrospinal fluid of girls with the Rett syndrome, as well as improvement in some of their symptoms during the administration of the opioid antagonist naltrexone, are suggestive of endorphinergic hyperactivity. Thus, the pathophysiology of the Rett syndrome might involve excessive stimulation of opioid receptors in the central nervous system by beta-endorphin or other endogenous opioids.
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PMID:Possible hyperendorphinergic pathophysiology of the Rett syndrome. 247 33

EEG studies have been carried out on 52 girls with Rett syndrome, the majority of records being taken between two and 7 years of age. Discharges were a common feature, occurring in 43 patients, and did not appear to be related to the onset of seizures. The discharges, consisting of sharp waves or spikes, were characteristically most prominent around the middle third of the head, often occurring asymmetrically and could be infrequent or almost continuous. They were usually enhanced by light sleep and were seen only during sleep in 15 EEGs taken in 13 patients, most of whom were under four years of age. These EEG features when present may help confirm the diagnosis of Rett syndrome in the appropriate clinical setting and in particular are quite distinct from the usual EEG patterns seen in Angelman (Happy Puppet) syndrome.
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PMID:Rett syndrome: an EEG study in 52 girls. 260 63


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