title: Combined evoked potentials in co-occuring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and epilepsy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evoked potentials, both stimulus related and event related, show disturbances in attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and epilepsies, too. This study was designed to evaluate if these potentials are characteristically influenced by the presence of the two diseases, individually, and in the case of co-occurrence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty children were included, and four groups were formed, control group, ADHD group, epilepsy group and a group with the comorbidity of epilepsy and ADHD. Epilepsy patients were under proper antiepileptic treatment; ADHD patients were free of specific therapy. Brainstem auditory evoked potentials, visual evoked potentials and auditory P300 evaluation were performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The latency of the P100 and N135 visual evoked potential components was significantly extended by the presence of epilepsy. If ADHD was concomitantly present, this effect was attenuated. Brainstem auditory evoked potential components were prolonged in the presence of the comorbidity, considering the waves elicited in the brainstem. P300 latencies were prolonged by the presence of co-occurring ADHD and epilepsy. Feedback parameters showed overall reduction of the tested cognitive performances in the ADHD group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Disturbances produced by the presence of ADHD-epilepsy comorbidity reveal hypothetically a linked physiopathological path for both diseases, and offers an approach with possible diagnostic importance, combined evoked potential recordings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacology, Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. zoltan.major@umfcluj.ro
authors.forename: Zoltán Zsigmond
authors.initials: ZZ
authors.lastname: Major
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018913:Event-Related Potentials, P300; D005071:Evoked Potentials; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male