Analysis of Psychological Profile and Video-EEG Monitoring in Sleep in Children with Developmental Dysphasia
Abstract
We analyzed data from 37 children diagnosed with developmental dysphasia, who were referred for all-night video-EEG monitoring in order to detect epileptiform activity in sleep. Methods: We compared the results of a psychological evaluation in different groups of children, we focused on performance and verbal IQ and a vocabulary exam.
Epileptiform discharges in sleep EEG were present in 12 children. Six of these children were included in an open prospective study of administering oral Diazepam for 6 to 8 months; these children were compared to six control subjects without discharges in the EEG and without medication.
The aim was to verify the effect of a reduction in epileptiform activity on language development. Results: Comparison of the initial psychological evaluations showed a tendency towards worse scores in both verbal and nonverbal skills in patients with epileptiform EEG activity.
This trend was not evident in the youngest category. In the six children with epileptiform activity who participated in our prospective study with oral Diazepam, we found a marked improvement in verbal skills, demonstrated as an increase in verbal IQ, only in one case.
Conclusion: Our results do not support the hypothesis that children with developmental dysphasia and epileptiform EEG may benefit from antiepileptic treatment. However, our sample is not large enough for statistical evaluation.
Our study may serve as a valuable source of information for further prospective studies in patients with developmental dysphasia.