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-2014-28-3-2 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-28-3-2 Seizure Disorders Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Epilepsy Comorbidities http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-7931 Millichap J. Gordon MD 1 2 * http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0798-0131 Millichap John J. MD 1 2 Division of Neurology, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, 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 03 2014 31 10 2015 28 3 18 19 Copyright: © 2014 The Author(s) 2014 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. Epilepsy and comorbidities – What are we waiting for?

Investigators at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, PA; UCLA; and Univ Wisconsin, Madison, WI, draw attention to the lack of attention to comorbidities in the treatment of epilepsy.

 Psychiatric Linguistic ADHD-Inattentive Subtype

Investigators at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, PA; UCLA; and Univ Wisconsin, Madison, WI, draw attention to the lack of attention to comorbidities in the treatment of epilepsy. Comorbidities include depression, anxiety disorders, ADHD, interictal psychosis, autism, and suicidal behavior. Despite studies that demonstrate the frequency of cognitive, psychiatric, linguistic, and social problems, the translation of research data to clinical practice is frequently hindered by limited access to critical cognitive and psychological evaluations and counseling. The NINDS Epilepsy Benchmarks and other national initiatives emphasize the need for comprehensive care for patients with epilepsy, yet there is a continuing lack of interest in support of these goals. [1]

COMMENTARY. ADHD is a common comorbidity of epilepsy, occurring in one of 5 children with epilepsy [2]. Quality of life was impaired twofold in children with epilepsy complicated by ADHD-inattentive subtype (ADHD-I), and fourfold with ADHD-hyperactive-Impulsive subtype (ADHD-C) comorbidity, when compared to non-ADHD/epilepsy patients. Methylphenidate with AEDs may be beneficial in treatment of ADHD and AED refractory epilepsy [3, 4].

Asato MR Caplan R Hermann BP Epilepsy and comorbidities – What are we waiting for? Epilepsy Behav 2014 Feb 31 127 8 10.1016/j.yebeh.2013.11.027 24397916 Gross-Tsur V Manor O van der Meere J Joseph A Shalev RS Epilepsy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: is methylphenidate safe and effective? J Pediatr 1997 Apr 130 4 670 4 10.1016/S0022-3476(97)70258-0 9432523 Fosi T Lax-Pericall MT Scott RC Neville BG Aylett SE Methylphenidate treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in young people with learning disability and difficult-to-treat epilepsy: evidence of clinical benefit Epilepsia 2013 Dec 54 12 2071 81 10.1111/epi.12399 24304474 Millichap JG Pediatr Neurol Briefs 2014 Feb 28 2 10 11