Abstract
The aim of the study was to clarify the relation of occurrence of epilepsy to autistic psychopathology. The sample of 77 patients of autistic spectrum was examined (61 boys, 16 girls) with average age of 9.1 + 5.3 years.
The observation scale CARS, semi-structured interview ADI-R, Stanford-Binet intelligence test, and Gessel's developmental scale were used in the examination. The clinical neurological examination included the EEG examination, too. 79.7 % of patients in the sample were mentally retarded.
Epilepsy was found in 17 patients (22.1 %). The total mean score in CARS was 37.3 + 6.7 and it did not correlate significantly with the occurrence of epilepsy.
The epilepsy was correlated significantly positively to CARS scale items number 2 ("imitation", p < 0.001) and 7 ("visual response", p < 0.001) and to subscales of ADI-R questionnaire "lack of shared enjoyment" (p = 0.02), "inability to compensate the missing speech by gestures" (p = 0.006), and "lack of spontaneous symbolic or social imitative play" (p = 0.012). The results prove that simultaneous occurrence of epilepsy worsens some symptoms of pervasive developmental disorders.