Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37360334›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in neurology2023

Epileptic spasms in infants: can video-EEG reveal the disease's etiology? A retrospective study and literature review.

Raffaele Falsaperla, Sarah Sciuto, Grete Francesca Privitera, Lucia Giovanna Tardino, Giuseppe Costanza, Alessandra Di Nora, Roberto Horacio Caraballo, Martino Ruggieri

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in neurology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 46% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Raffaele FalsaperlaUnit of Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency, University Hospital Policlinico "Rodolico-San Marco", Catania, Italy.
Sarah SciutoPediatrics Postgraduate Residency Program, Section of Pediatrics and Child Neuropsychiatry, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Grete Francesca PriviteraDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Lucia Giovanna TardinoUnit of Pediatrics and Pediatric Emergency, University Hospital Policlinico "Rodolico-San Marco", Catania, Italy.
Giuseppe CostanzaPediatrics Postgraduate Residency Program, Section of Pediatrics and Child Neuropsychiatry, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Alessandra Di NoraPediatrics Postgraduate Residency Program, Section of Pediatrics and Child Neuropsychiatry, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Roberto Horacio CaraballoDepartment of Neurology, Hospital de Pediatría "Juan P. Garrahan", Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Martino RuggieriUnit of Rare Diseases of the Nervous System in Childhood, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Pediatrics and Child Neuropsychiatry, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
University of Catania · ITPoliclinico Universitario di Catania · ITGarrahan Hospital · AR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: Epileptic spasms are a type of seizure defined as a sudden flexion or extension predominantly of axial and/or truncal limb muscles that occur with a noticeable periodicity. Routine electroencephalogram supports the diagnosis of epileptic spasms, which can occur due to different causes. The present study aimed to evaluate a possible association between the electro-clinical pattern and the underlying etiology of epileptic spasms in infants. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and video-EEG data on 104 patients (aged from 1 to 22  months), admitted to our tertiary hospital in Catania and the tertiary hospital in Buenos Aires, from January 2013 to December 2020, with a confirmed diagnosis of epileptic spasms. We divided the patient sample into structural, genetic, infectious, metabolic, immune, and unknown, based on etiology. Fleiss' kappa (К) was used to assess agreement among raters in the electroencephalographic interpretation of hypsarrhythmia. A multivariate and bivariate analysis was conducted to understand the role of the different video-EEG variables on the etiology of epileptic spasms. Furthermore, decision trees were constructed for the classification of variables. Results: The results showed a statistically significant correlation between epileptic spasms semiology and etiology: flexor spasms were associated with spasms due to genetic cause (87.5%; OR < 1); whereas mixed spasms were associated with spasms from a structural cause (40%; OR < 1). The results showed a relationship between ictal and interictal EEG and epileptic spasms etiology: 73% of patients with slow waves and sharp waves or slow waves on the ictal EEG, and asymmetric hypsarrhythmia or hemi hypsarrhythmia on the interictal EEG, had spasms with structural etiology, whereas 69% of patients with genetic etiology presented typical interictal hypsarrhythmia with high-amplitude polymorphic delta with multifocal spike or modified hypsarrhythmia on interictal EEG and slow waves on the ictal EEG. Conclusion: This study confirms that video-EEG is a key element for the diagnosis of epileptic spasms, also playing an important role in the clinical practice to determine the etiology.

Indexed as

electro-clinical patternepileptic spasmsnewbornseizurevideo-EEG

Identifiers

PMID37360334
PMCPMC10288980
OpenAlexW4380084091

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