Page "Epilepsy" Paragraph 46

* Dravet's syndrome, previously known as severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy ( SMEI ), is a neurodevelopmental disorder beginning in infancy and characterized by severe epilepsy that does not respond well to treatment.

This syndrome was described by Charlotte Dravet, French psychiatrist and epileptologist ( born July 14, 1936 ).

Dravet described this syndrome while working at the Centre Saint Paul at the University of Marseille.

At Centre Saint Paul, one of her supervisors was Henri Gastaut, who described the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

She described this condition in 1978 Estimates of the prevalence of this rare disorder have ranged from 1: 20, 000 to 1: 40, 000 births, though the incidence may be found to be greater as the syndrome becomes better recognized and new genetic evidence is discovered.

It is thought to occur with similar frequency in both genders, and knows no geographic or ethnic boundaries.