title: Are dyslexia and dyscalculia associated with Rolandic epilepsy? A short report on ten Italian patients.
abstract: Rolandic epilepsy (RE) is the most common childhood epilepsy syndrome with a good, long-term outcome. Nevertheless, some studies indicate that children with RE have more scholastic and neuropsychological problems than controls. The purpose of this study was to describe neuropsychological findings in a small group of Italian children with RE, focusing on dyslexia and dyscalculia. Possible correlations between these findings and the age-at-onset of seizures, duration of active epilepsy, frequency, type and localization of epileptic discharges were examined. Children affected by RE, aged nine to eleven years were selected from patients admitted to the outpatient service of our Clinic. They underwent cognitive evaluation, specific evaluation for dyslexia and dyscalculia, and awake and sleep EEG recordings. We found two patients out of the ten with dyscalculia, one of whom also had characteristics of dyslexia. This small study suggests that dyscalculia and dyslexia might be more frequent than expected in children with RE. No significant correlations between this finding and EEG, seizure-frequency or age-at-onset of epilepsy were found in our patients.
authors: Sezione di Neuropsichiatria Infantile, Dipartimento di Scienze Pediatriche e dell'Adolescenza dell'Università di Torino, Italy. carlottacanavese@hotmail.com
authors: Carlotta
authors: C
authors: Canavese
authors: Roberto
authors: R
authors: Rigardetto
authors: Vilma
authors: V
authors: Viano
authors: Roberta
authors: R
authors: Vittorini
authors: Bianca
authors: B
authors: Bassi
authors: Ilaria
authors: I
authors: Pieri
authors: Giorgio
authors: G
authors: Capizzi
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D019305:Epilepsy, Rolandic / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006236:Handwriting; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011932:Reading
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants