Marcelo Gulini Chiodi

Desempenho escolar em crianças com epilepsia benigna da infância com pontas centrotemporais

RESUMO - Aspectos psicossociais em criancas com epilepsia benigna da infância com pontas centrotemporais (EBICT) sao objetode controversias. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi estudar o desempenho escolar em criancas com EBICT. Vinte criancas foramsubmetidas ao Teste de Desempenho Escolar (TDE) e comparadas a criancas sadias pareadas por idade e escolaridade.Foram estudada sas relacoes entre o TDE e a lateralidade do foco e o numero de descargas ao eletrencefalograma.As criancas com EBICT tiveram,de modo significativo, mais frequentemente do que as sadias, desempenho inferior no subteste de leitura e no escore total. Ascriancas com desempenho inferior em leitura apresentaram maior numero de descargas do que aquelas com desempenho medioe superior.Nao houve diferencas no TDE segundo a lateralidade do foco.O numero de descargas,ao interferir com a funcao cerebral ,pode ser um fator a explicar o desempenho mais baixo na leitura.PALAVRAS-CHAVE: epilepsia idiopatica, eletrencefalograma, atividade epileptiforme, leitura.School performance in children with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikesABSTRACT - Neuropsychological implications of benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes-rolandic spikes (BECTS) have not been adequately investigated.The aim of this study was to compare the results in a school perf ormancetest of patients with BECTS and normal age-matched controls.A total of 20 children with BECTS and 20 normal controls were submi ttedto anamnesis, clinical evaluation, Raven test, school performance test (SPT), digital electroencephalogram and quantitativeelectroencephalogram analysis. Comparing with normal controls, children with BECTS showed significantly lower SPT results,especially in reading test.There was an association between the higher number of rolandic spikes and inferior performance in SP Treading test.These findings suggest that discharges may be a factor in the genesis of lower performance in reading test in chil drenwith BECTS.KEY WORDS: rolandic epilepsy, electroencephalogram, epileptiform activity, reading, cognition.

Quantitative EEG in children with learning disabilities: analysis of band power

In order to better understand the mechanisms of learning disabilities it is important to evaluate the electroencephalogram parameters and their relation to the results of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale. Thirty-six children with complaints of learning disability were studied. Electroencephalograms were carried out while awake and resting, and the values for absolute and relative powers calculated. The results were compared with those of 36 healthy children paired with respect to age, gender and maternal scholastic level. In the group with learning disabilities, the absolute (in the delta, theta and alpha 1 bands) and relative (theta) power values were higher and the relative power alpha 2 value significantly lower at the majority of the electrodes in relation to the control group. There was a high positive correlation in the children with learning disabilities between the relative power alpha 2 and the verbal, performance and total IQ values. These quantitative electroencephalogram findings in children with learning disabilities have a clear relation with psychological measurements and could be due to brain immaturity.

Benign Childhood Epilepsy with Centra-Temporal Spikes: Quantitative EEG and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-III)

Benign childhood epilepsy with centro-temporal spikes (BECTS) is a form of focal idiopathic epilepsy, with seizure remission by the age of 18. Recent studies have suggested that some children with BECTS can suffer from deficits of memory, attention and learning ability and in auditory-verbal and performance sub-tests. On the other hand, alterations in the baseline brain electrical activity determined by using the quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) have been described. The objective of this study was to evaluate the absolute and relative powers in the delta, theta, alpha and beta bands of the qEEG in children with BECTS, and their relation to IQ measurements (WISC-III). Twenty-six 8 to 11-year-old children with BECTS were studied, paired with a control group of healthy children according to age and gender. It was shown that the absolute delta and theta powers were statistically greater in the children with BECTS than in the control group, at almost all the electrodes. In the children with BECTS, a negative correlation (Pearsons correlation test) was observed at various electrodes between the absolute delta and theta powers and the performance IQ. These data indicate a possible relationship between maturational disturbance in the brain electrical activity development and the tendency for inferior cognitive performance in children with BECTS.

Eletrencefalograma quatitativo em crianças com epilepsia benigna da infância com pontas centrotemporais: análise de freqüências

Quantitative EEG aspects are studied in children with benign childhood epilepsy with centrotempral spikes (BCET). A total of 27 children, from 7 to 11 years neurologically and intellectually normal was studied and compared to a control group of normal children. They were submitted to anamnesis, neurological examination, Raven test, digital electroencephalogram and quantitative eletroencephalogram analysis. There was a higher delta, theta, alpha and beta absolute power in most of the electrodes and of alpha and beta for some electrodes in the BCET group. Relative theta power was also higher for the BECT group in most of the electrodes. These findings suggest that in BECT there are diffuse differences form age-matched normal children including a difference in relative spectrum of electrical cerebral activity and that this may be related to a functional immaturity.

P36.37 Quantitative electroencephalography in children with learning disabilities: Analysis of band power

common cause of dementia is studied by many electrophysiological methods. Event-related oscillations, especially in theta frequency range have been proposed to be related to memory processes, and frontal theta oscillations increase with memory load in a working memory task in humans. Higher phase-locking in theta oscillations means better synchronization and frontal areas are more sensitive to these changes. Treatment strategies can modify these potentials. Objectives: We aimed to investigate to see if phase-locking of theta event related oscillations differs between healthy and elderly, treated (by cholinesterase inhibitors) AD and non-treated AD subjects in frontal areas. Subjects and methods: A total of 22 mild probable AD subjects (11, non-treated; 11, treated) and 20 healthy elderly controls were evaluated by using the conventional visual oddball paradigm. We aimed to compare phase-locking of theta (4–7 Hz) oscillations between the groups at the frontal electrodes. Results: At F3, theta responses of healthy subjects showed higher phase-locking to stimulation than nontreated AD. In treated AD, phase-locking following target stimulation was two times higher in comparison to the responses of non-treated patients. The results indicate that the phase-locking of theta oscillations at F3 in the cholinergically treated patients is as strong as the control subjects. The F4 theta responses were not different between the groups. Discussion: Our findings imply that the theta responses at F3 location are highly unstable in comparison to F4 in non-treated mild AD patients and cholinergic agents may modulate event-related theta oscillatory activities in the frontal regions.