EVALUATION OF LEARNING DIFFICULTIES IN EPILEPTIC CHILDREN WITH IDIOPATHIC GENERALIZED EPILEPSY AND WELL-CONTROLLED SEIZURES

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Children with symptomatic epilepsy have more learning difficulties (LDs) than those with idiopathic or cryptogenic epilepsies. However, there is little information on the prevalence of LDs in well-defined pediatric epileptic populations. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to evaluate LDs in epileptic children. METHODS: We evaluated LDs in 37 epileptic children (18 boys and 19 girls; mean age: 8.29 ± 1.00 years) who had idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) and were being treated with sodium-valproate monotherapy (22 with generalized tonic-clonic seizures and 15 with absence epilepsy). The mean duration of epilepsy and treatment was 3.48 ± 1.88 and 2.96 ± 1.80 years, respectively. All children attended mainstream schools, and their seizures were well controlled (without seizures for at least 6 months). We used the Athina Test for the Diagnosis of Learning Difficulties, a test that is partly based on the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities, standardized in healthy Greek children. RESULTS: Children with IGE performed significantly poorer in all subtests except the auditory closure subtest (Table 1). No significant difference was found between the 2 subgroups. A negative correlation was found between disease duration and the score in auditory memory (r = −0.368; P = .025). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest an increased risk of LDs in children with IGE and well-controlled seizures. Early detection of the cognitive impact of IGE and subsequent intervention are needed to prevent educational underachievement. TABLE 1.Athina Test for the Diagnosis of LDsSubjects With Inadequate Performance, % P Children With IGEHealthy ChildrenAuditory memory64.99.0.000Visual memory43.29.0.000Grammatic closure43.29.0.000Auditory closure16.29.0.125Graphophonological awareness32.49.0.000Visual-motor coordination43.225.0.010