How to Tell if your Child has Aicardi Syndrome

Arcadi syndrome is a rare disorder of the genes that interrupts the development process of the brain’s structure that connects the two hemispheres. By genetic disorder, researchers and experts do not mean that the disease is transferred from the parents to the child and so on, but that it is caused by a first-time mutation in the genetic code of the child.

Since the disorder has to do with an underdeveloped brain, the patient may suffer from a series of complications, especially those that are related to learning, communicating, working; basically, almost every activity that a human being is capable of.

Recognizing the Symptoms

When a child is born and diagnosed with aicardi syndrome, it may seem pretty much a normal thing because the infant is still in a fragile state of development. The disorder, however, begins to show signs between the age of 2 and 5 months. Some obvious signs include infantile spasms i.e. a type of seizure that develops especially in infants and jerking. You may also be able to spot yellowish spots on your child’s eyes the cause of which may be found to be lesions on the retina.

Other symptoms of Aicardi Syndrome include the following:
•    Mental retardation
•    Coloboma i.e. a congenital defect of the iris of the eye
•    Difficulty eating
•    Smaller than normal eyes
•    Spasticity
•    Gastroesophageal reflux
•    There ma y be irregularities in the ribs as well as spine such as scoliosis
•    Smaller than normal hands and head
•    Skin problems as well as issues with facial symmetry such as flatter nose, smaller space between upper lip and nose, larger ears, etc.
•    the brain of the affected would have fewer folds
•    Presence of fluid-filled cysts may also be found
•    Aicardi syndrome can also lead to poor development of eyes, which can make one suffer from blindness or an impaired vision.

Read more articles on Aicardi Syndrome.