Menkes' disease: neurophysiological aspects.

The evolution of neurophysiological features including the electroencephalogram (EEG), electroretinogram (ERG), and visual evoked potentials (VEP) is reported in eight cases of Menkes' "kinky hair" disease. All EEGs were severely abnormal, with some characteristic features seen from 3-5 months of age, after the onset of clinical symptomatology. From the age of 5 months, the EEGs resembled hypsarrhythmic patterns. The ERG was not affected in any patient, but the VEP was either of low amplitude or completely absent in all but one of the six patients tested. All eight patients received copper injections without substantial effect on either the clinical course of the disease or the EEG features.