Lennox-Gastaut syndrome

Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome is a severe form of epilepsy that starts to get noticed during infancy or early childhood.

Children who are affected by Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome experience different type of seizures most commonly a typical absence, Tonic, and atonic seizures.

Children who are found to have Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome also have the chances of developing behavioral problems and cognitive dysfunction.

Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Symptoms

Most symptoms of Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome manifest themselves during childhood or infancy, between 3 to 5 years of age. Most individuals who have Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome experience:

• multiple seizures throughout the day
• multiple types of seizures throughout the day.
• Individuals with tonic seizures have increased muscle stiffness ad muscle tone
• Tonic seizures are usually brief and mostly prevalent at night.
•  Atonic seizures causes individuals to have a sudden loss of limpness and muscle tone.
• They can causes problems with sudden fall or posture or cause the head to nor or drop.

However, the frequency and type of seizures may change as the individual grows older.

Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Causes

Most cases of Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome normally has an identifiable cause. These cases that causes Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome are commonly referred to as Symptomatic Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. Example of the conditions that can cause Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome include:

•  Stroke
•  abnormal development of the brain cortex
•  reduced oxygen supply that occurs before birth
• trauma a rare
• genetic disorder known as tuberous sclerosis
• infections of the central nervous system such as meningitis or encephalitis.

Most patients who are diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome normally have a previous history on West syndrome. Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome at times can also be classified as cryptogenic, in which the cause cannot be determined or it is unknown after evaluation.

Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Diagnosis

It is difficult to make an accurate diagnosis of Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome so all the symptoms stated above may not all be present on the onset of the disorder. The diagnosis of Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome is also made complicated due to the wide variety of its potential causes.

When you have Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, there is a clinical triad that must be identified for a diagnosis. This triad has:

• multiple and different type of seizures
• some degree of behavioral impairment
• cognitive impairment
•  a distinctive bran wave pattern.

Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome diagnosis treatment is normally based on a thorough clinical evaluation, complete neurological and physical evaluation, and a detailed patient history including advanced imaging techniques.

Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Treatment

Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome has no specific therapy that has been proven to be effective in all cases. Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome has proven to be resistant to most of the therapeutic options. There are three main forms of treatment of Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome and these are:

•  dietary therapy which is typicall known as the ketogenic diet
• anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs)
• surgery (corpus callosotomy or VNS therapy).  

When treating Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, you require the participation of a team of specialists. These specialists include:

• surgeons
• pediatricians
• pediatric neurologists
• neurologists
• other healthcare professionals.

Individuals with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome are usually given AEDs but an individual response is highly variable.