The impact of epilepsy on the overall development of children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

15—30 % of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are diagnosed with epilepsy during their lifetime, and 20—39 % of children with ASD have neurophysiological phenom- ena specific to epilepsy on the EEG. The presence of epilepsy and specific epileptic activity on the EEG may impair the prognosis of cognitive deve- lopment, motor functions and social functioning in children with ASD. Objective: to investigate the fea- tures of the clinical course of ASD in preschool children with epileptic seizures and specific epileptic activity on the EEG. During 2016—2021 170 children with ASD were selected and included in the study, a control group of 65 people and a main group of 105 people were formed. Patients in the main group are divided into two subgroups: IA children with autism and epilepsy — 35 people; IВ children with autism and specific epi- leptic changes on the human EEG — 70. ASD and epilepsy have a mutually burdensome course. Seizures occurring at an early age are more resis- tant to the use of antiepileptic therapy, these children have lower indicators of social functioning and psychophysi- cal development. Children with ASD and comorbid epileptic seizures tend to accumulate delays in the development of perceptual clusters, gross motor skills, visual-motor coordination, speech development, and cognitive skills. There are 4 variants of the clinical course of ASD: a variant with general developmental delay (accumulation of a lag from the expected developmental trajectory when asses- sing PER-R), a variant with a plateau of developmental delay, a variant with early onset of symptoms when assessing ADI-R and ADOS between the ages of 12 and 24 months; variant with late manifestation of autistic symptoms. In the IB subgroup cases of mental retardation predominate, compared to the control group and the IA sub- group, which indicates the accumulation of additional cases of seizure-free forms of epileptic encephalopathies, encephalopathies develop ment, encephalopathies with epileptic disintegration.