Author(s)

Alireza Khatami^1*, Erick Sell², Mohamed Aggag¹, Elka Miller¹

¹Department of Medical Imaging, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
²Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Background: Infantile spasm is a type of pediatric seizure often associated with a negative prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in categorization and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with infantile spasm. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of the clinical charts and MRI findings of infants diagnosed with infantile spasm between December 2007 and February 2014. Results: A total of 26 children (16 males; 1.6/1) were included: 8 of unknown etiology and 18 with a genetic/structural-metabolic causes. Unknown etiology cases revealed normal brain MRI in 5/8 (62.5%). In the genetic/ structural-metabolic group, only 2/18 (11.1%) had normal imaging. Abnormal imaging findings significantly correlated with genetic/structural-metabolic infantile spasm which had unfavorable neurodevelopmental outcome. Conclusion: Neuroimaging conveys substantial information to the further categorization of children with infantile spasm, providing not only relevant information of the underlying cause but also the prediction of the neurodevelopmental outcome.

Infantile Spasm, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Brain Imaging, Infant, Vigabatrin

Khatami, A. , Sell, E. , Aggag, M. and Miller, E. (2016) Brain MRI Findings in Infantile Spasm: Outcome Correlations in a Patient Cohort. Open Journal of Medical Imaging, 6, 80-92. doi: 10.4236/ojmi.2016.63008.