William James West | |
---|---|
Born | 1793 Wadenhoe, North Northhamptonshire County; England |
Died | 1848 Tonbridge, Kent County; England |
Nationality | English |
Alma mater | Possibly Guy's Hospital |
Known for | Describe the West Syndrome |
Spouse | Mary Halsey Dashwood |
Children | Julia, William Robert, James Edwin |
William James West, was an English surgeon and apothecary, who among other things took a prominent role in the local movement of reform of medical practice. He published in 1837 the first article referred to an ovariectomy performed in England and first described the picture of a kind of infantile spasm (present in his own son, James Edwin West) in an article published by The Lancet in 1841.[1] Today, this syndrome is typically characterized by three findings: epileptic spasms, psychomotor retardation and electroencephalogram with a characteristic layout of hypsarrhythmia, although one of the three may not appear.