1043-3155 Pediatr Neurol Briefs pedneurbriefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs Pediatric Neurology Briefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs 2166-6482 1043-3155 2166-3155 Pediatric Neurology Briefs Publishers Chicago, IL, USA PNB-11-42 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-11-6-3 Antiepileptic Drugs Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Barbiturate AEDS, EEG and Cognitive Performance http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-7931 Millichap J. Gordon MD 1 2 * Division of Neurology, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL Correspondence: Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, E-mail: jgmillichap@northwestern.edu 06 1997 01 05 2016 11 6 42 42 Copyright: © 1997 The Author(s) 1997 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Barbiturate anticonvulsants: a neuropsychological and quantitative electroencephalographic study

Neuropsychological performance and quantitative EEGs were studied in 11 epileptic children, aged 7 to 14 years, both during treatment and without phenobarbital and mephobarbital, and in comparison to 13 matched controls, at Tulane University Medical School, New Orleans, LA.

 Barbiturate Phenobarbital Cognitive Impairment

Neuropsychological performance and quantitative EEGs were studied in 11 epileptic children, aged 7 to 14 years, both during treatment and without phenobarbital and mephobarbital, and in comparison to 13 matched controls, at Tulane University Medical School, New Orleans, LA. Barbiturates at therapeutic levels (10-40 mcg/ml) had no effect on the EEG in frequency bands 0.6 to 32 Hz. Compared to controls, the WISC-R Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale Scores, Bender-Gestalt, and Achenbach Behavior Rating Scale showed no significant change during barbiturate treatment; only the Stroop color/word test showed an adverse difference. Compared to scores off-drug in 8 subjects analyzed, adverse on-drug effects were found in the WISC-R Verbal, Stroop, and Achenbach aggression scales. Performance of the Bender-Gestalt improved during treatment with barbiturates. Irritability, oppositional attitude, and overactivity were reported in 6 of 11 subjects, but the parents of 4 elected to continue treatment. Mephobarbital caused less behavioral problems than phenobarbital. [1]

COMMENT. Contrary to a previous report of adverse effects of phenobarbital in younger children treated for febrile seizures, barbiturates appear to cause negligible cognitive impairments, only mild behavioral changes, and no effects on the EEG in older school age children treated for epilepsy.

Willis J Nelson A Black FW Borges A An A Rice J Barbiturate anticonvulsants: a neuropsychological and quantitative electroencephalographic study J Child Neurol 1997 Apr 12 3 169 171 10.1177/088307389701200303 9130089