Seizure disorders in Down syndrome
S. M. Pueschel, S. Louis and P. McKnight
Department of Pediatrics, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence.
The prevalence, onset, and type of seizure disorders, as well as seizure
control, were studied in a large cohort of 405 individuals with Down
syndrome (age range, 6 months to 45 years). The evaluation of a
questionnaire completed by the subjects' parents and of the patients'
medical records indicated that 33 (8.1%) of 405 persons with Down syndrome
had seizure disorder. With regard to the onset of seizures, a bimodal
distribution was noted: 40% of patients began having seizures before the
age of 1 year, and another 40% started with seizure activity in the third
decade of life. In the younger age group, primarily infantile spasms and
tonic-clonic seizures with myoclonus were observed, and the older patients
often had partial simplex or partial complex seizures as well as
tonic-clonic seizures.
