Pediatric epilepsy and comorbid reading disorders, math disorders, or autism spectrum disorders: Impact of epilepsy on cognitive patterns.
BACKGROUND
In pediatric epilepsy, comorbidities are reported to be frequent. The present study focusedon the cognitive patterns of children with isolated epilepsy, children with isolated neurodevelopmental disorders (reading disorders, math disorders, autism spectrum disorders), and children with epilepsy and these neurodevelopmental disorders as comorbidities.


METHODS
Based on two samples of referred children, one with epilepsy, reading disorders, math disorders, or ASDs occurring in "isolation" (n=117) and one with reading disorders, math disorders, and ASDs occurring comorbid with epilepsy (n=171), cognitive patterns were compared. The patterns displayed by verbal and nonverbal abilities from the WISC series were studied with repeated measures ANOVA. Thereafter, an exploratory 2∗3∗2 factorial analysis was done to study the independent contribution of the type of comorbidity and of the presence or absence of epilepsy to the VIQ-PIQ pattern.


RESULTS
In isolated epilepsy, a VIQ>PIQ pattern was found, which was not seen in the other disorders. When epilepsy and another disorder co-occurred, patterns were altered. They resembled partly the pattern seen in isolated epilepsy and partly the pattern seen in the isolated neurodevelopmental disorder. In comorbid reading disorders, the VIQ>PIQ pattern was mitigated; in comorbid math disorders, it was exacerbated. In comorbid ASDs, no clear pattern emerged. In the presence of epilepsy, patterns characteristic of isolated disorders appeared systematically shifted toward relatively lowered performance abilities or relatively spared verbal abilities. The similar "impact" exerted by epilepsy on the patterns of the various conditions suggested shared mechanisms.
Epilepsy Institute in the Netherlands Foundation (SEIN), Department of Psychology, The Netherlands; School De Waterlelie, Expertise Centre for Education and Epilepsy, The Netherlands. Electronic address: lviterson@sein.nl.
Loretta
L
van Iterson
Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Peter F
PF
de Jong
Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Bonne J H
BJ
Zijlstra
D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D014888:Wechsler Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
ASD; Cognitive patterns; Comorbidities; Epilepsy in children; Learning disorders; WISC