Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T15:37:48.030Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 40 - Fragile X syndrome

from Section 3 - Symptomatic epilepsy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2012

Simon D. Shorvon
Affiliation:
National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London
Frederick Andermann
Affiliation:
Montreal Neurological Hospital and Institute
Renzo Guerrini
Affiliation:
Child Neurology Unit, Meyer Pediatric Hospital, Florence
Get access

Summary

Fragile X syndrome is the most frequent cause of familial mental retardation and the second most common overall cause of mental retardation after Down syndrome. Clinical features of fragile X syndrome vary widely, and include cognitive, behavioral, and morphologic signs and symptoms. Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) plays a number of crucial roles in dendritic maturation and function. The most common seizure type seen in fragile X syndrome is complex partial and the most common electroencephalogram (EEG) pattern is centrotemporal spikes. The definitive diagnosis of fragile X syndrome is made by genetic testing and requires an alteration in the FMR1 gene which can be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or Southern blot analysis. The treatment of individuals with fragile X syndrome is mainly symptomatic and ideally involves a multidisciplinary team to address common comorbidities including anxiety, behavioral problems, attentional difficulties, and other psychiatric disorders.
Type
Chapter
Information
The Causes of Epilepsy
Common and Uncommon Causes in Adults and Children
, pp. 272 - 276
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×