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-14-74 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-14-10-2 Attention Deficit and Cognitive Disorders Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Transitory Cognitive Deficit with Epilepsy Paroxysm 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 10 2000 01 04 2016 14 10 74 75 Copyright: © 2000 The Author(s) 2000 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. Transitory cognitive impairment in epileptic children during a CPT task

The EEGs and cognitive responses during a go-no go Continuous Performance Test (CPT) were studied in two groups of 58 epileptic and 20 healthy control chiuldren, ages 8 to 12 years, at the Hospital Civil de Guadalajara, Mexico.

 Continuous Performance Test Transitory Cognitive Impairments Epileptic Paroxysm

The EEGs and cognitive responses during a go-no go Continuous Performance Test (CPT) were studied in two groups of 58 epileptic and 20 healthy control chiuldren, ages 8 to 12 years, at the Hospital Civil de Guadalajara, Mexico. Paroxysmal discharges occurred in 88% of the epileptic compared to 5% of the control group. Transitory cognitive impairments (TCI) with higher numbers of behavioral errors and longer reaction times were detected in 36% of the epilepsy patients, in the absence of clinical seizures. TCI was correlated with the frequency and duration of paroxysmal discharges, occurring with discharges at more than 5 per second and lasting longer than 500 ms. [1]

COMMENT. The epileptic paroxysm, even without clinical seizure, can be associated with transitory cognitive impairment. Treatment of epilepsy may need to focus on control of EEG epileptiform discharges in addition to control of seizures.

Hirsch E and colleagues (Strasbourg, France) report a significant relationship between a slow EEG focus and neuropsychological impairment, in a prospective study of 18 children with benign epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes (BECTS). Low performance on Koh’s cube and WISC coding test correlate with the amount of spike and wave on sleep EEGs. [2]

Caplan R et al (UCLA, CA) studied thought disorder in 92 children with complex partial seizures (CPS), 51 with petit mal (PGE), and in 117 normal children, ages 5 to 16 years. The CPS group had more severe thought disorder and cognitive impairments than the PGE group. EEG evidence of fronto-temporal dysfunction in children with CPS was associated with thought disorder as well as global cognitive dysfunction. In the PGE group, thought disorder was related to poor seizure control and cognitive dysfunction. [3]

González-Garrido AA Oropeza de Alba JL Gómez-Velázquez FR Fernández Harmony T Soto Mancilla JL Ceja Moreno H Transitory cognitive impairment in epileptic children during a CPT task Clin Electroencephalogr 2000 Oct 31 4 175 180 10.1177/155005940003100405 11056839 Hirsch E Abstracts frtom the Annual Meeting of the AES, Los Angeles, CA, December 1-6, 2000 Epilepsia 2000 Oct 41 Suppl 7 88 Caplan R Abstracts from the Annual Meeting of the AES, Los Angeles, CA, December 1-6, 2000 Epilepsia 2000 Oct 41 Suppl 7 88