Key result
Five patients with Down syndrome and infantile spasms were identified, suggesting that central nervous system anomalies in Down syndrome may predispose to infantile spasms.
Case Report (n=5)
This case series highlights the association between Down syndrome and infantile spasms, likely predisposed by central nervous system anomalies.
May prompt closer monitoring for spasms in Down syndrome infants; hypothesis-generating and requires prospective confirmation.
Five patients with Down syndrome (DS) and infantile spasms were examined in a four-year interval. Previous reports of this association have been infrequent except during experimental treatment with 5-hydroxytryptophan, a precursor of serotonin. Malformations of the brain in DS are associated with an increased incidence of epilepsy, and both gross and cytoarchitectural anomalies have been described. The severity and distribution of these central nervous system anomalies presumably predispose to the infantile spasms. The contribution of altered serotonin metabolism is uncertain.
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Pollack et al. (1978) conducted a case report in Down syndrome and infantile spasms (n=5). Down syndrome was evaluated. Five patients with Down syndrome and infantile spasms were identified, suggesting that central nervous system anomalies in Down syndrome may predispose to infantile spasms.
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