Thiamin deficiency in infancy and epilepsy in 7 children
What it found
Seven children who had severe thiamin deficiency as babies later developed epilepsy that was hard to treat.
Five years on, all had mental retardation and movement problems.
What they found
Studies in people
Seizures at first
All the infants had seizures when they first came in, either tonic, myoclonic or focal. Six had a brain wave recording at that stage and all showed slow background activity.
Seizures came back
After a seizure-free period of 1 to 9 months, the seizures returned. All 7 children then had either myoclonic or complex partial seizures.
Brain wave patterns
Brain wave recordings showed multifocal or generalized spike wave complexes in all 7 children. In 3 children the tracings changed into hypsarrhythmia.
Treatment and control
The seizures did not respond to most anti-epileptic drugs. Four children still had seizures that were not controlled.
Long-term disabilities
All the children had mental retardation and motor disabilities, as well as symptoms of brainstem dysfunction.
What the authors conclude
“Our findings indicate that severe infantile thiamine deficiency may result in epilepsy.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say their findings indicate that severe infantile thiamine deficiency may result in epilepsy.
How it was done
The authors wanted to report what happened over time to children who developed severe epilepsy after thiamin deficiency in infancy, caused by a defective soy-based formula.
They reviewed the medical records of 7 children aged 5 to 6 years who had thiamin deficiency as infants and developed epilepsy. They recorded the children's clinical data, brain wave tracings and brain scans, and described their course and outcome 5 years after the deficiency.
What it can’t tell you
- We summarised it from the abstract only.
- This was a small review of 7 children, so it cannot show how often thiamin deficiency in infancy leads to epilepsy.
- It cannot prove that thiamin deficiency was the only cause of the epilepsy and disabilities in these children.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Dana Children's Hospital, Israel
The paper
- Title
- Epilepsy in children with infantile thiamine deficiency
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Abstract only
- Cite
- Fattal-Valevski A, Bloch-Mimouni A, Kivity S, et al (2009). Epilepsy in children with infantile thiamine deficiency. Neurology. doi:10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181b121f5PubMed 19571254DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error