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(Ivanhoe Newswire) Children who have normal IQs before they experience a first seizure may develop problems with language, memory, learning and other cognitive skills, according to a new study.
"Our study highlights the importance of testing children with epilepsy for possible cognitive problems soon after they are diagnosed with epilepsy in order to avoid these issues affecting them later in life, especially if they have additional risk factors," study author Philip Fastenau, PhD, Professor of Neurology at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the Neurological Institute of University Hospitals in Cleveland, OH was quoted as saying. The research was done in collaboration with Indiana University, Purdue University in Indianapolis and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
The study involved 282 school-aged children with an IQ of at least 70 who had experienced their first seizure within the previous three months. They were compared to 147 of their siblings who did not have seizures.
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Of the children who experienced one seizure, 27 percent showed cognitive difficulties at or near the time of the first seizure, and 40 percent of children who had additional risk factors showed signs of cognitive problems. A child with multiple risk factors was three times more likely to experience cognitive problems by the first clinic visit compared to children who were seizure-free.
The study showed that children who took epilepsy drugs had difficulty processing speed, language, verbal memory and learning compared to children who did not take any epilepsy drugs. "Children who take these medications should be closely monitored for cognitive problems resulting from the epilepsy drug," said Fastenau. "Surprisingly, our study also found academic achievement in these children was unaffected around the time of the first visit about three months after the first seizure in this study, suggesting there is a window early in epilepsy for intervention to avoid hurting a child's performance at school."
In an editorial accompanying the study, David Loring, PhD, of Emory University in Atlanta, wrote, "Because this study found cognitive problems at the time of the first seizure or soon after, it provides strong evidence that these cognitive problems can be attributed to underlying brain abnormalities that lead to the epilepsy, rather than from extended exposure to epilepsy drugs or the effect of numerous seizures."
SOURCE: Neurology, August 12, 2009
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