Prednisolone in Infantile Spasms- High Dose Versus Usual Dose

Randomized Trial of High Dose (4mg/kg) Versus Usual Dose (2mg/kg) Oral Prednisolone in the Treatment of Infantile Spasms.

Infantile spasms comprise a difficult to treat type of epilepsy in young children. Hormonal treatment, i.e. Prednisolone and ACTH are considered the treatment of choice. There is no consensus on the dosage of Prednisolone required for the treatment of infantile spasms. Recent data has shown that a high dose (4 mg/kg/day) may be more efficacious than the usual dose (2 mg/kg/day). However, there are no randomized controlled trials comparing these doses. A higher steroid dose may also be associated with more side effects. Therefore, this study was planned to compare the efficacy and tolerability of the high dose versus the usual dose in children with infantile spasms, in a randomized open-label trial design

Inclusion Criteria:

- Children aged 3 months to 2 years presenting with epileptic spasms (at least 1 cluster/day) with EEG evidence of hypsarrhythmia or its variants

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Children with active systemic illness
2. Children with evidence of active tuberculosis
3. Severe Acute Malnutrition ad defined by WHO (visible wasting/Mid Upper Arm Circumference < 11 cm/pedal edema/Weight for height < 3 SD)
4. Children with recurrent illness/chronic systemic illness