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-8-93-a 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-8-12-7 Behavior and Attention Disorders Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Attention Problems in Epilepsy 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 12 1994 01 06 2016 8 12 93 93 Copyright: © 1994 The Author(s) 1994 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. Attention problems in epilepsy: possible significance of the epileptogenic focus

The relation of laterality of the epileptogenic focus to cognition and attention in 43 unmedicated children, mean age 10 years, with benign rolandic epilepsy of childhood was assessed at Clinica Neurologica Universita, Perugia, Italy.

 Benign Rolandic Epilepsy Hemisphere Dysfunction Attentional Disorders

The relation of laterality of the epileptogenic focus to cognition and attention in 43 unmedicated children, mean age 10 years, with benign rolandic epilepsy of childhood was assessed at Clinica Neurologica Universita, Perugia, Italy. Children with right sided or bilateral paroxysmal foci scored worse on a figure cancellation task, whereas those with left-sided foci performed as well as controls. The task measures attentive processes and visuospatial orientation. [1]

COMMENT. Attentional difficulties in children with benign rolandic epilepsy are related to right hemisphere dysfunction and impaired visuospatial processing. The data did not support an hypothesis of left spatial neglect. The laterality of the epileptic focus is linked to the type of cognitive deficit. Left hemisphere dysfunction affects language-related abilities. Attentional disorders in epileptic children can be explained by paroxysmal activity, and is independent of any effect of antiepileptic drugs.

 Piccirilli M D’Alessandro P Sciarma T Cantoni C Dioguardi MS Giuglietti M Attention problems in epilepsy: possible significance of the epileptogenic focus Epilepsia 1994 Sep-Oct 35 5 1091 1096 10.1111/j.1528-1157.1994.tb02560.x 7925157