Autism, macrocrania and epilepsy: how are they linked?
To evaluate the possible association of autistic disorder (AD), macrocrania and epilepsy, we performed a retrospective study comparing epileptic and non-epileptic AD patients with macrocrania, and AD patients with macrocrania to age- and sex-matched AD controls without macrocrania. We found macrocrania in 17.3% of 121 patients with AD. Epilepsy was not significantly more frequent in AD patients with macrocrania than in those without macrocrania. There were no significant differences in the other clinical characteristics studied except for epileptiform EEG abnormalities which were more often found in AD patients with epilepsy. AD with macrocrania and epilepsy is not a syndrome but may be a marker for a group of subjects with AD. A role for familial macrocrania needs further assessment.
Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Ugo Foscolo 7, 40123 Bologna, Italy. parmeggi@alma.unibo.it
Antonia
A
Parmeggiani
Annio
A
Posar
Paola
P
Giovanardi-Rossi
Frederick
F
Andermann
Benjamin
B
Zifkin
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012886:Skull / Q000002:abnormalities*