[Infantile spasms and modified hypsarrhythmia].

The West syndrome was described by the physician West in his own son in 1841 and is defined as a triad of myoclonic seizures called "infantile spasms", electrographic abnormalities called "hypsarrhythmia" and arrest of psychomotor development and mental retardation. These symptoms are so pathognomonic that the impression is that the syndrome is caused by a single mechanism, but actually there is heterogeneity of etiologies, different recommendations of treatment and prognosis. The West syndrome was established as an infantiLe epileptic syndrome (ILAE Task Force, 1989).

Endocrine effects of valproate in adolescent girls with epilepsy.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of epilepsy and/or valproate (VPA) monotherapy on physical growth, weight gain, pubertal development, and hormonal status in adolescent girls with epilepsy.

Methods: The study group included 88 consecutive female patients with epilepsy aged 6-20 years (28 premenarche, 60 postmenarche) attending an endocrinology institute of a major tertiary center. Forty-five patients were under treatment with VPA, and 43 were before treatment initiation.

Indoor survey of moulds and prevalence of mould atopy in Israel.

Background: Moulds are ubiquitous indoor as well as outdoor allergens and therefore potential candidates for indoor environmental control measures. However, very few studies have been performed to examine the significance of indoor moulds in allergic diseases and the effectiveness of measures to reduce the quantity of indoor moulds has not been established.

Objective: To determine the significance and the contribution of moulds to allergic manifestations.

Idiopathic familial gingival fibromatosis associated with mental retardation, epilepsy and hypertrichosis.

Gingival fibromatosis, a rare but often familial condition, is described in two siblings, associated with mental retardation, epilepsy and hypertrichosis. In one child a maxillary giant-cell tumour was found and excised. It is important to distinguish idiopathic gingival fibromatosis from phenytoin-induced gingival hypertrophy.