The role of pharmacotherapy, rehabilitation and nutrition in the treatment of children with West syndrome

Smyk Paulina, Barczykowska Ewa, Zreda Pikies Aneta, Ulenberg Agata, Kurylak Andrzej. The role of pharmacotherapy, rehabilitation and nutrition in the treatment of children with West syndrome. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2018;8(7):221-230. eISNN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1299949 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/5614 https://pbn.nauka.gov.pl/sedno-webapp/works/868914 The journal has had 7 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education parametric evaluation. Part b item 1223 (26/01/2017). 1223 Journal of Education, Health and Sport eissn 2391-8306 7 © The Authors 2018; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 02.05.2018. Revised: 18.05.2018. Accepted: 28.06.2018. The role of pharmacotherapy, rehabilitation and nutrition in the treatment of children with West syndrome Paulina Smyk1, Ewa Barczykowska1, Aneta Zreda Pikies1, Agata Ulenberg2, Andrzej Kurylak1 1Department of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland 2Laboratory for Basic Clinical Skills and Medical Simulation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Corresponding author: Paulina Smyk Department of Pediatric Nursing Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, address: Łukasiewicza 1 85 – 821 Bydgoszcz, Poland e-mail: paulina.smyk@cm.umk.pl Abstract West syndrome is classified as an epileptic encephalopathy. This syndrome is diagnosed in children aged 4-6 months. Its unsuccessful prognosis and complicated aetiology affects the delay of psychomotor development and cognitive functions of children. Repeated attacks inhibit the realization of next tasks assigned to the children’s age. Properly conducted treatment of West syndrome should be interdisciplinary and include pharmacological treatment, diet and rehabilitation. Pharmacological treatment of West syndrome includes: the ACTH hormone, corticosteroids (prednisolone), vigabatrin, valproic acid, nitrazepam, pyridoxine, zonisamide, topiramide. The therapy includes also a ketogenic diet, which assumes changes in the proportion of nutrients. Predominant ingredient in the diet are fats (80-90% of daily intake of nutrients). Further, children with West syndrome require neuropsychological and motor rehabilitation (Vojta therapy, NDT- Bobath therapy). Cooperation of therapeutic experts with parents of the children makes it possible to achieve therapeutic benefits through improvement of the children's quality of life. Mental disability and cognitive impairment associated with the syndrome result in the loss of skills already acquired by children, therefore motivation and support of the children's parents is a significant task assigned to therapeutic team members. Keywords: West syndrome, children, therapy, treatmen