Brain morphology in children with epilepsy and ADHD.
BACKGROUND
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common comorbidity of childhood epilepsy, but the neuroanatomical correlates of ADHD in epilepsy have yet to be comprehensively characterized.


METHODS
Children with new and recent-onset epilepsy with (n = 18) and without (n = 36) ADHD, and healthy controls (n = 46) underwent high resolution MRI. Measures of cortical morphology (thickness, area, volume, curvature) and subcortical and cerebellar volumes were compared between the groups using the program FreeSurfer 5.1.


RESULTS
Compared to the control group, children with epilepsy and ADHD exhibited diffuse bilateral thinning in the frontal, parietal and temporal lobes, with volume reductions in the brainstem and subcortical structures (bilateral caudate, left thalamus, right hippocampus). There were very few group differences across measures of cortical volume, area or curvature.


CONCLUSIONS
Children with epilepsy and comorbid ADHD exhibited a pattern of bilateral and widespread decreased cortical thickness as well as decreased volume of subcortical structures and brainstem. These anatomic abnormalities were evident early in the course of epilepsy suggesting the presence of antecedent neurodevelopmental changes, the course of which remains to be determined.
Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Ricardo
R
Saute
Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
Kevin
K
Dabbs
Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
Jana E
JE
Jones
Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
Daren C
DC
Jackson
Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Science and Medicine, North Chicago, Illinois, United States of America.
Michael
M
Seidenberg
Department of Neurology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
Bruce P
BP
Hermann
D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology