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Epileptic spasms without hypsarrhythmia in infancy and childhood: tonic spasms as a seizure type (WITH VIDEO) Volume 17, issue 2, June 2015

TEST YOURSELF

(1) What are tonic spasms?


(2) What are the other terms that have been used to describe variants of epileptic spasms?


(3) Are tonic spasms suggestive of focal seizures or do they represent an intermediate phase of epileptic spasms in the evolution to Lennox-Gastaut syndrome?

 

 

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Answers

(1) Tonic spasms are prolonged epileptic spasms with a duration of more than 2 seconds. EEG characteristics are typical: diffuse complexes of high-voltage slow waves superimposed with low-voltage fast activity during spasms, followed by fast activity during the tonic phase.


(2) Infantile spasms, epileptic spasms without hypsarrhythmia, periodic spasms, focal spasms, tonic spasms, and late-onset epileptic spasms.


(3) Tonic spasms have been reported in patients with epileptic spasms in older ages, not typical of West syndrome, which suggests that this seizure type is associated with progressive maturation of the brain and may be placed within the evolution of infantile spasms to tonic seizures; for some authors, from West syndrome to Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. However, in the case reported here, it was interpreted as a focal seizure (focal spasm).

 

 

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