Watching your baby’s every move typically gives parents so much joy. But when a baby shows signs and symptoms of a serious neurological condition such as infantile spasms (IS), that joy can quickly turn to worry.

Infantile spasms are small seizures that can have big consequences. Early recognition leads to better outcomes; waiting to seek treatment can increase your baby’s risk of permanent brain damage. Here’s what parents need to know.

What are infantile spasms?

Infantile spasms, first described with a group of symptoms known as West syndrome, are a form of
epilepsy it occurs in 1 in 2,000 children. It typically begins between 2-12 months of age and peaks between 4-8 months of age.

What do infantile spasms look like?

Although these seizures only last a second or two, they often occur closely together with each spasm occurring every 5-10 seconds. second in a series.

During a spasm, the body suddenly stiffens. The back can arch and the arms, legs and head can bend forward. But infantile spasms can sometimes be hard to notice – maybe only the eyes roll up or there’s a little tummy rumble.

Infantile spasms are most common right after a baby wakes up and rarely occur during sleep.

Parents and childcare providers or anyone who wants to educate a friend or relative about infantile spasms:
watch this video below. You will see a baby experiencing a cluster of individual spasms. Each spasm lasts less than 1 second; the child shows a look of surprise, a brief glance and raising/extending both arms. Between each spasm, the baby appears to be fine – this is very typical of infantile spasms.

Early diagnosis is key

It is very important that infantile spasms are diagnosed early. If you suspect that your baby may have infantile spasms, talk to your pediatrician right away. Your child may need to be seen by one
pediatric neurologist. If you can, try to film any episodes of your baby having a spasm and show this to your child’s doctors.

You may be told to go to
the emergency room so that a pediatric neurologist can examine your child. Your child may need to be admitted to the hospital for a test called video electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring. Video EEG is needed to verify specific brain wave patterns during the spasms and to document specific patterns between spasms.

Pediatric neurologists look for a distinct EEG pattern called
hypsarrhythmia. The appearance of the seizures and the EEG are so clear that the diagnosis of infantile spasms can be made with certainty in most cases. It can be more difficult to determine the cause of the spasms.

Causes of infantile spasms

There are many reasons of infantile spasms; almost any brain abnormality or brain injury can cause them. More than 50 genetic/metabolic diseases are associated with infantile spasms, and many patients have other disorders that cause developmental delays (eg, cerebral palsy,
Down syndrometuberous sclerosis, etc.) before the onset of spasms.

Determining the cause of infantile spasms is very important because it affects treatment and prognosis.

Treatment options for infantile spasms

Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) is a first line of therapy for infantile spasms. This medicine is given as a shot. The first doses are given in hospital so that your child can be closely monitored for any side effects. Since your child will continue to receive ACTH injections for about 6 weeks, you will be instructed on how to give your child the injections at home. The goals of this medication are to:

In some cases, pediatric neurologists prescribe seizure medicine vigabatrin Both medicines work well, but your child’s doctor will talk to you about which medicine might be the best choice for your child.

What is the outlook for children with infantile spasms?

Even if the infantile spasms stop, many children develop other forms of epilepsy and have
intellectuals or else
developmental disability later in life. If treatment is quick and successful, the outlook is brighter. Normal development is possible for those who developed on track before the spasms started.

More information

Editor’s note: The article was published in recognition of Infantile Spasms Awareness Week to help parents as well as doctors and other health care providers learn more about this disease and its treatments. See www.isweek.org for more info.