Muscular spasms that infants, 3 months to 2 years of age, experience, characterized by flexor spasms of the arms, legs, and head. Also known as jackknife seizures.
Seizures in which a baby suddenly and briefly shakes or tenses his or her body several times a day. A spasm may also include difficulty breathing or a loss of consciousness. This type of seizure can occur until approximately 18 months of age. In some babies, no reason is ever found for the seizures and they disappear. Other times, infantile spasms are due to serious underlying problems such as brain damage or cerebral palsy. In such cases, other types of seizures follow as children grow older and are usually accompanied by some type of developmental delay.
A serious brain disorder of infants, usually beginning under the age of six months. The spasms are involuntary flexing movements of the arms, legs, neck, and trunk; each spasm lasts 1-3 seconds and is associated with flushing of the face; runs of spasms occur over a period of several minutes. The baby fails to respond to human contact and development is profoundly slowed. An EEG pattern of hypsarrhythmia is sometimes seen. Interpretation of the spasms as a digestive disorder has often delayed diagnosis, but immediate recognition and treatment with corticosteroids and ACTH offers a chance of arresting the disease.
Also known as salaam attacks, these are a rare but serious type of epilepsy, usually starting in the first eight months of life. The spasms are short and occur as involuntary flexing of the neck, arms, trunk and legs. They may occur several times a day. If the baby is sitting, it may collapse into a ‘salaam’ position; more usually there is a simple body jerk, sometimes accompanied by a sudden cry. An electroencephalogram shows a picture of totally disorganized electrical activity called hypsarrhythmia. The condition results from any one of many brain injuries, infections or metabolic insults that may have occurred before, during, or in the first few months after birth. Its importance is that in most cases, the baby’s development is seriously affected such that they are likely to be left with a profound learning disability. Consequently, prompt diagnosis is important. Treatment is with corticosteroids or with certain anticonvulsants the hope being that prompt and aggressive treatment might prevent further brain damage leading to learning disability.
Seizure activity marked by momentary flexion or extension of the neck, trunk, extremities, or any combination, with onset occurring in the first year of life. Although infantile spasms subside in late infancy, many affected children develop other types of seizure activity and may be severely retarded.
Bundles of swift and abrupt muscular spasms succeeded by rigid or folding movements, commonly referred to as jackknife motions, are characteristic of a condition known as infantile spasms. Typically, these spasms commence within the first year of life and cease by the age of 4.
This refers to an uncommon form of recurring seizures, also known as progressive myoclonic encephalopathy or salaam attacks, which impact infants. The disorder, a type of epilepsy, usually first appears between the ages of four and nine months.
The spasms can take place hundreds of times per day, each lasting a few seconds. During a seizure, the baby’s head abruptly droops forward, the body becomes rigid, and the limbs contract, followed by the arms and hands stretching out and moving outward. These seizures often indicate brain damage; babies affected typically experience significant developmental delays.
A serious disorder that impacts infants, linked to the decline of brain functionality. The spasms in this condition entail the head, neck, and trunk bending forward, along with extension or flexion movements of the arms and legs.