Cerebral Palsy and Epilepsy

Abstract

The frequency of epilepsy in children with cerebral palsy is 40 times higher than the common population rate. The presence of epilepsy aggravates the clinical course of cerebral palsy, complicates the rehabilitation, affects the prognosis of motor and intellectual functions, and could be life-threatening. Another problem is the possibility of aggravation of epileptic seizures and their appearance de novo due to application of some neurorehabilitation methods (electrophoresis, acupuncture, nootropic drugs, brain stimulators, etc.). Children with cerebral palsy have a broad spectrum of epilepsies—varying from favorable combinations with benign idiopathic forms to extremely severe epileptic encephalopathies. Frequent combination of epileptic and non-epileptic paroxysms causes difficulty in their interpretation and differential diagnosis. Video-EEG monitoring is the “golden standard” for differential diagnostic of epileptic and non-epileptic events, and it is very useful for investigation of patients with cerebral palsy. Treatment of epilepsy in combination with cerebral palsy strictly requires an individual approach due to the form of epilepsy, seizure types, age of the patient, comorbidity, and somatic and mental condition of the patient