Background:
West Syndrome is a rare epileptic encephalopathy involving infantile spasms,
altered electroencephalographic pattern with hypsarrhythmia, and psychomotor development delay. It
arises in paediatric patients, generally within the first year of life, in symptomatic or idiopathic form
depending on the presence of hereditary features or not.
Case report:
In this report it is described the case of a West syndrome patient affected by multiple
caries, gingival enlargement, dental eruption abnormalities, high-arched palate and MIH, treated at the
dental clinic of University of Bari “Aldo Moro”.
Discussion:
West patients present with multiple oral abnormalities, including altered eruption timing,
teeth agenesis, teeth shape and position abnormalities, plaque and calculus accumulation, malocclusions
and bad oral habits (mouth breathing, nails biting).
Conclusion::
West Syndrome patients’ oral hygiene is generally bad due to their motor difficulty and to
their low compliance towards dentists, which entails general anaesthesia to perform dental treatment.
West Syndrome pharmacological treatment is usually based on antiepileptic drugs and/or ACTH.
These medications are well known for their ability to induce gingival enlargement, increasing the possibility
of plaque accumulation and gingivitis development.
Teaching NeuroImages: A child with macrocephaly and psychomotor development delay
