Benign familial neonatal seizures: clinical and electroencephalographic characteristics.

Two families with benign familial neonatal seizures evident over three generations are presented with emphasis on clinical and electroencephalographic features. Benign familial neonatal seizures represent a disorder with the onset of frequent generalized seizures during the first weeks of life. Family history reveals autosomal dominant inheritance of this disorder.

Apnoea and seizures.

We report two infants with near miss sudden infant death syndrome events exhibiting seizure disorders after caffeine treatment, suggesting there is an infant subgroup diagnosed as near miss sudden infant death syndrome who have apnoea possibly with seizures whose seizure threshold may be lowered by central nervous system stimulants like caffeine.

EEG abnormalities and convulsions in juvenile diabetes mellitus.

The clinical and EEG findings were reviewed for 270 juvenile children from the Montreal Children's Hospital Diabetic Clinic in an attempt to correlate the EEG findings at the onset of diabetes mellitus with the future risk of having a convulsion with a hypoglycemic reaction. Compared to a non-diabetic control population, the number of epileptiform EEG abnormalities was significantly increased in the initial EEG of diabetic patients who later had a hypoglycemic convulsion. The initial epileptiform EEG did not help to differentiate those diabetics with recurrent hypoglycemic induced convulsions from diabetics who would have only a single convulsion.

Sodium valproate in the treatment of the intractable childhood epileptic.

Sixty-five children with seizure disorders, who had been treated with multiple anticonvulsants but were poorly controlled, were selected from the Montreal Children's Hospital Convulsive Disorder Clinic and Neurology Service and were treated with sodium valproate (valproate). All types of seizure disorders were included in the group. Rapid oral absorption of the drug lead to peak plasma levels in one to three hours (later peaks occurring if administered after meals).

Depressed T cells following neonatal steroid treatment.

Fourty-four patients received two doses of 12.5 mg/kg of hydrocortisone or placebo on the first day of life in attempted therapy for respiratory distress syndrome. Follow-up studies were performed on survivors at 5 years of age in ten steroid-treated and seven placebo-treated respiratory distress syndrome subjects.

Plasma amino acids in 3/sec spike-wave epilepsy.

Plasma levels of 14 amino acids were determined in 44 probands with 3/sec spike-wave epilepsy, 27 of their first-degree relatives, and 22 controls. Six ratios of metabolically related amino acids were also calculated. Statistically significant differences were found for 7/20 variables when the experimental and control probands were compared, and for 6/20 variables when the relatives were compared with controls.

Sequelae of caffeine treatment in preterm infants with apnea.

Growth, neurologic, and ophthalmologic assessments were done in 21 low-birth-weight infants given caffeine for neonatal apnea and in 21 matched control infants. Caffeine significantly decreased the need for and the duration of mechanical ventilation. No difference in growth and development was noted between the control and caffeine-treated infants.

Basilar migraine, seizures, and severe epileptiform EEG abnormalities.

Four adolescents had basilar migraine, infrequent cerebral seizures, and severe EEG abnormalities. The clinical course was benign, with normal personality, mentation, and neurologic examination. Almost continuous EEG abnormalities, consisting of rhythmic temporo-occipital sharp and slow wave discharges, or generalized spike and wave complexes, were seen in serial recordings.

Hyperactive individuals as young adults: current and longitudinal electroencephalographic evaluation and its relation to outcome.

In a 10-year follow-up study electroencephalograms (EEGs) of 31 hyperactive and 27 matched control subjects of mean ages 19.17 and 18.59 years respectively showed no significant differences in any of the features assessed.