TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Infantile Spasms and West Syndrome A1 - Go, Cristina Yip A1 - Snead, III, O. Carter A2 - Duchowny, Michael A2 - Cross, J. Helen A2 - Arzimanoglou, Alexis Y1 - 2017 N1 - T2 - Pediatric Epilepsy AB - In 1841, Dr. William J. West penned a letter to Lancet in which he described an unusual condition in his 4-month-old son, James, that was characterized by "… slight bobbings of the head forward"…which "… increased in frequency, and at length became so powerful, as to cause a compete heaving of the head forward toward his knees, and then immediately relaxing in an upright position. … these bowings and relaxings would be repeated alternately at intervals of a few seconds, and repeated from ten to twenty or more times at each attack, which attack would not continue more than two or three minutes; he sometimes has two, three, or more attacks in the day …." Dr. West went on to describe a reduction in a developmental trajectory in his child that was normal prior to the onset of these events: he states that since the onset of the spells his son "… neither possesses the intellectual vivacity, or the power of moving his limbs, of a child of his age." This remarkable letter, now over 160 years old, remains the most eloquent clinical description of what we now know as infantile spasms. It describes the relentless nature of the condition, the early age of onset, the classical clinical presentation, and the developmental regression associated with infantile spasms.1 SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/29 UR - neurology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1138410857 ER -