Children with this form of the syndrome are less likely to go on to develop other forms of epilepsy; around two in every five children develop at the same rate as healthy children.In other cases, however, treatment of West syndrome is relatively difficult and the results of therapy often dissatisfying; for children with symptomatic and cryptogenic West syndrome, the prognosis is generally not positive, especially when they prove resistant to therapy.Statistically, 5 out of every 100 children with West syndrome do not survive beyond five years of age, in some cases due to the cause of the syndrome, in others for reasons related to their medication. Only less than half of all children can become entirely free from attacks with the help of medication. Statistics show that treatment produces a satisfactory result in around three out of ten cases, with only one in every 25 childrens cognitive and motoric development developing more or less normally.A large proportion (up to 90%) of children experience severe physical  and cognitive impairments, even when treatment for the seizures is successful. This is not usually because of the epileptic seizures, but rather because of the causes behind them (cerebral anomalies or their location or degree of severity). Severe, frequent attacks can (further) damage the brain.Permanent damage often associated with West syndrome in the literature include cognitive disabilities, learning difficulties and behavioural problems, cerebral palsy (up to 5 out of 10 children), psychological disorders and often autism (in around 3 out of 10 children).
The International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) in 2011 recommended abandoning these terms for reasons of clarity and instead trying to place individual cases into one of the following three groups: genetic, structural/metabolic, and unknown. The new terms are more immediately clear in their meaning, except that the structural and metabolic group includes cases that have a genetic component that does not always directly lead to the condition. Only the genetic grouping has a known direct genetic cause. "Unknown" cases may be of unknown genetic, structural, metabolic, or other unknown cause.The old terminology was defined by the ILAE as follows:
symptomatic:  the epilepsy is the consequence of a known or suspected disorder of the central nervous system. cryptogenic: this refers to a disorder whose cause is hidden or occult. Cryptogenic epilepsies are presumed to be symptomatic. idiopathic:  there is no underlying cause other than a possible hereditary predisposition.The remainder of this section will refer to the older terminology. Symptomatic
If a cause presents itself, the syndrome is referred to as symptomatic West syndrome, as the attacks manifest as a symptom of another problem. Almost any cause of brain damage could be associated, and these are divided into prenatal, perinatal, and post-natal. The following is a partial list:
In around one third of the children, there is evidence of a profound organic disorder of the brain. This includes:microcephaly
cortical dysplasia
cerebral atrophy
lissencephaly
bacterial meningitis
phakomatoses (e.g. tuberous sclerosis)
Aicardi syndrome
cephalhematoma and
vascular malformation. Furthermore, other causes increasingly being named in the literature are:
Incontinentia pigmenti
Foix–Chavany–Marie syndrome
Patau syndrome (trisomy 13)
Sturge–Weber syndrome
neurometabolic diseases
congential infections (e.g.