William James West

William James West
Born1793
Wadenhoe, North Northhamptonshire County; England
Died1848
Tonbridge, Kent County; England
NationalityEnglish
Alma materPossibly Guy's Hospital
Known forDescribe the West Syndrome
SpouseMary Halsey Dashwood
ChildrenJulia, 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.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference West was invoked but never defined (see the help page).