The Etiology of Mental Retardation in Iraqi Children.

doi:10.46940/sjnp.01.1001

Abstract

Abstract Background: Mental retardation is a group of heterogeneous disorders associated with generalized developmental delay during infancy and early childhood, while impairment in cognitive functions and adaptive behaviors became generally apparent during pre-school and early school years depending on the severity of the condition. Little is known about the etiology of mental retardation in Iraq. The aim of this paper is to describe the etiology of mental retardation in a sample of Iraqi children. Patients and methods: During one-year period (February 2018 to February 2019), thirty-six patients with mental retardation (25 males and 11 females) were observed at the neuropsychiatry clinic at the Children Teaching hospital of Baghdad Medical City. Their ages ranged from two to seventeen years. Patients with cerebral palsy, atypical autism with mental retardation and Rett syndrome were not included in this series. Results: Eighteen patients (50%) had idiopathic mental retardation (11 males and 7 females). Seven patients (19%) had Down syndrome (5 males and 2 females). Two male patients had Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome, one of them had an affected brother. Three males had inborn errors of metabolism, each one had phenylketonuria, homocystinuria and Lesch Nyhan syndrome. The patient with Lesch Nyhan syndrome had an older brother who died from the same condition. Six patients each one had Prader-Labhart-Willi syndrome, Sanjad Sakati Richardson Kirk syndrome, Coffin Siris syndrome, kernicterus, Bartter syndrome, Pediatric Huntington disease. Nonspecific abnormalities were present in three patients and included bilateral optic atrophy in one boy, squint and obesity in one girl and a second girl had large ears. Brain CT-scan was available for two patients with idiopathic mental retardation and one patient with kernicterus and showed normal findings. Conclusion: The causes of mental retardation in about two thirds of Iraqi patients with mental retardation were idiopathic mental retardation and Down syndrome.

Highlights

Mental retardation is a group of heterogeneous disorders associated with generalized developmental delay during infancy and early childhood, while impairment in cognitive functions and adaptive behaviors became generally apparent during preschool and early school years depending on the Volume 1 (1): 2019 severity of the condition
There are two main types of mental retardation The syndromic mental retardation which is associated with other abnormalities caused by chromosomal and non-chromosomal genetic defects, endocrine disorders and inborn errors of metabolism
Homocystinuria is another an autosomal recessive inborn error of metabolism associated with mental retardation

Summary

Introduction

Mental retardation is a group of heterogeneous disorders associated with generalized developmental delay during infancy and early childhood, while impairment in cognitive functions and adaptive behaviors became generally apparent during preschool and early school years depending on the Volume 1 (1): 2019 severity of the condition. Inborn errors of metabolism that commonly causes mental retardation include phenylketonuria, Homocystinuria and Lesch Nyhan syndrome [11]. Lesch Nyhan syndrome is an X-linked inborn error of purine metabolism associated with mental retardation. It is caused by deficiency of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase enzyme which is normally present in each cell in the body, but its highest concentration is in the brain, especially in the basal ganglia [11]. Mental retardation is a group of heterogeneous disorders associated with generalized developmental delay during infancy and early childhood, while impairment in cognitive functions and adaptive behaviors became generally apparent during pre-school and early school years depending on the severity of the condition.

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