A longitudinal study of epilepsy and other central nervous system diseases in individuals with and without a history of infantile autism.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the prevalence and types of epilepsy and other central nervous system (CNS) diseases in a clinical sample of 118 individuals diagnosed as children with infantile autism (IA) with 336 matched controls from the general population.


METHODS
All participants were screened through the nationwide Danish National Hospital Register (DNHR). The average observation time was 30.3years (range 27-30years), and mean age at follow-up was 42.7years (range 27-57years).


RESULTS
Of the 118 individuals with IA, 29 (24.6%) were registered with at least one epilepsy diagnosis against 5 (1.5%) in the comparison group (p<0.0001; OR=21.6; 95% CI 8.1-57.3). Other CNS diseases occurred with low frequency in both groups and only cerebral palsy, unspecified (p=0.02) was significantly more frequent among participants with a history of IA.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study lends further support to the notion that epilepsy, but not other CNS diseases, is a common comorbid condition in IA. Low intelligence, but not gender, was a risk factor for epilepsy in IA.
Mouridsen
Svend Erik
SE
Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark. Svend.Erik.Mouridsen@regionh.dk
Rich
Bente
B
Isager
Torben
T
D000328:Adult; D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D003718:Denmark; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors