Case history
Case history
A 7-month-old boy presents with brief episodes of head drops and flexion of the body, followed by tonic extension of arms and legs. These movements last 1-2 seconds and occur in several clusters per day, with 15-30 spasms per cluster. The head drops are mostly seen on awakening or just before falling asleep. He was born at 41 weeks' gestation with a birth weight of 4050 grams and Apgar scores of 7 at 1 minute and 8 at 5 minutes. He had achieved normal developmental milestones but has regressed since the onset of seizures.
Other presentations
Infantile spasms may present either with subtle head nods or merely with eye fluttering. Spasms may be asymmetric or unilateral, when a lesional or structural cause should be suspected.[4][5] The obvious distress following flexion of the body and stiffened clenched fists often leads to misdiagnosis as infantile colic or gastroesophageal reflux disease.
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