A Project to Foster Behavioural Monitoring in the Field of ADHD

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The inv dup (15) or idic (15) syndrome (Tetrasomy 15q)

The inv dup(15) or idic(15) syndrome displays distinctive clinical findings represented by early central hypotonia, developmental delay and intellectual disability, epilepsy, and autistic behaviour. Incidence at birth is estimated at 1 in 30,000 with a sex ratio of almost 1:1. Developmental delay and intellectual disability affect all individuals with inv dup(15) and are usually moderate to profound. Expressive language is absent or very poor and often echolalic. Comprehension is very limited and contextual. Intention to communicate is absent or very limited. The distinct behavioral disorder shown by children and adolescents has been widely described as autistic or autistic-like. Epilepsy with a wide variety of seizure types can occur in these individuals, with onset between 6 months and 9 years. Various EEG abnormalities have been described. Muscle hypotonia is observed in almost all individuals, associated, in most of them, with joint hyperextensibility and drooling. Facial dysmorphic features are absent or subtle, and major malformations are rare. Feeding difficulties are reported in the newborn period

Elderly people and epilepsy : cognitive function

PURPOSE: To evaluate cognitive function in a group of elderly patients with focal epilepsy versus healthy controls. METHODS: A neuropsychological battery assessing major cognitive domains was administered to 40 patients with focal epilepsy aged > or = 60 years, and to 40 controls matched for sex, age, and education. RESULTS: Epilepsy patients performed significantly worse in most of the administered tests than controls (p < 0.05). Poor cognitive performances correlated with use of polytherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Given the high prevalence of epilepsy in the elderly, our results could have important implications for clinical and research purpose

La riabilitazione neuropsicologica: esame della letteratura

The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature of neuropsychological rehabilitation of memory and attention. The first part of the discussion presents an overview of the current methods and applications of cognitive rehabilitation, the second part investigates the results of neuropsychological rehabilitation with people with epilepsy. Cognitive deficits are one of the major limiting factors in everyday life functioning of patients with epilepsy. Regarding epilepsy, the preliminaire clinical features suggest a very interesting clinical field and provide suggestions for future researches

Attention and psychomotor speed decline in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy : a longitudinal study

PURPOSE: To assess the possible cognitive alterations in epilepsy patients compared with controls over 5 years, and to investigate the clinical variables mainly implied in mental impairment. METHODS: In our longitudinal single-center study, 50 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and 50 controls were administered the same battery of comprehensive neuropsychological tests at baseline and after 5 years. RESULTS: TLE patients showed a significant impairment in attention and psychomotor speed compared with controls after 5 years, while the other cognitive domains did not exhibit any important changes. This worsening was mainly related to the duration of epilepsy, the age at onset, a history of tonic-clonic seizures and a low educational level. CONCLUSIONS: We believe that tapping the attention and psychomotor speed decline in TLE patients should be considered relevant for future research, in order to achieve a deeper understanding of the cognitive dimensions of this fiel