Clinical-electroencephalogram characteristics and its evolutionary process of Dravet syndrome / 中华神经科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the clinical and electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics as well as its evolutionary process of Dravet syndrome (DS) in order to improve early diagnosis and appropriate treatment.Methods Fifty patients with DS were studied including onset age, trigger factors, seizure types on different age stages and relationship with EEG characteristics and its evolution process.Results The average age of seizure onset was ( 5.5 ± 1.9 ) months.The fever sensitivity continuously existed in the entire course of disease.In the early stage, generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCS) and focal or unilateral seizures were main types.Multi seizure types included myoclonic seizures (MS) and atypical absence occurred later.The onset ages of MS were average (M50) of 16 months.MS never occurred in 26% of the patients.During the first year of life, EEGs were normal in 76% of these patients.The epileptiform discharges only recorded in about 50% of the patients in spite of multi seizure types had presented.After three years ago, both EEG background abnormalities and discharges occurred in more 90% of the all patients.Photosensitivity response with MS occurred in the 28% of 18 patients.Conclusions The clinical and EEG are not parallel progressively process in early stage of DS.The children often express more severe clinical seizures than EEG abnormalities until 2 years of age.Various abnormal EEG manifestation obviously display gradually after 3 years age.Precise recognizing with the clinical and EEG characteristics of DS will help get correct early diagnosis and screen the candidate cases to test SCN1A gene.