Key result
Evoked potentials and MRI reveal brainstem abnormalities in ~90% of patients with infantile spasms.
Why the study?
Infantile spasms are frequently associated with brainstem dysfunction, but the extent of brainstem involvement and its evaluation require further study.
Does the combination of brainstem evoked potentials and MRI effectively evaluate brainstem involvement in patients with infantile spasms?
Observational (n=10)
Does the combination of brainstem evoked potentials and MRI effectively evaluate brainstem involvement in patients with infantile spasms?
Infantile spasms are frequently associated with brainstem dysfunction, and the combination of brainstem evoked potentials and MRI is a valuable diagnostic tool for evaluating this involvement.
Hypothesis-generating for brainstem involvement in infantile spasms; leaves open diagnostic or therapeutic implications pending larger studies.
Ten patients with infantile spasms underwent brainstem evoked potentials and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination to evaluate brainstem involvement. Short latency somatosensory evoked potentials and auditory brainstem responses were abnormal in seven and five of the 10 patients, respectively. MRI findings were abnormal in nine of the 10 patients. Six patients demonstrated various degrees of atrophy of the brainstem. In all of these cases brainstem evoked potentials were abnormal. This study demonstrates that infantile spasms are frequently associated with brainstem dysfunction and raises the hypothesis that brain atrophy involving the brainstem might be a cause of infantile spasms. In addition, this study also documents the combination of brainstem evoked potentials and MRI examination is valuable tool in the evaluation of brainstem involvement in infantile spasms.
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Miyazaki et al. (1993) conducted an observational in Infantile spasms (n=10). Brainstem evoked potentials and MRI was evaluated on Brainstem abnormalities on evoked potentials and MRI. Brainstem evoked potentials and MRI revealed brainstem abnormalities in 9 of 10 patients with infantile spasms, suggesting frequent brainstem dysfunction.
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