Affiliations: Department of Pediatrics, Inje University Haeundae
Paik Hospital, Busan, Korea | Department of Pediatrics, Samsung Changwon Hospital,
Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Changwon, Korea | Department of Pediatrics, Dongguk University College
of Medicine, Gyeongju, Korea | Department of Pediatrics, Kyungpook National
University Hospital and School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea
Note: [] Correspondence: Dr. Soonhak Kwon, Department of Pediatrics,
Kyungpook National University Hospital and School of Medicine, Samdeok 2-50,
Joong-Gu, Daegu, Korea. Tel.: +82 53 420 5704, +82 53 420 5717; Fax: +82 53 425
6683; E-mail: shkwon@knu.ac.kr
Abstract: Benign rolandic epilepsy (BRE) is a benign condition, but may
display different degrees of neuropsychological deficits, such as cognitive
disturbances, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and other behavioral
deficits. The aim of this study was to assess the neuropsychological functions
and their relationship to the characteristics of interictal epileptiform
discharges in children with BRE. A total of 33 children with newly diagnosed
BRE (19 males/14 females, 8.2 ± 2.4 yr) were involved in the study. All
children underwent a sleep electroencephalography and a comprehensive
neuropsychological evaluation, which included Korean versions of the Wechsler
intelligence scale for children III, frontal executive neuropsychological test,
Rey complex figure test, Wisconsin card sorting test, attention deficit
diagnostic scale, and child behavior checklist. The average monthly seizure
frequency of the subjects was 0.8 ± 0.8, and the spike index was 14.1
± 18.4/min (right) and 18.8 ± 22.1/min (left). On the whole,
subjects exhibited normal cognitive function, frontal executive function,
memory and other neuropsychological sub-domain scores. The group with a higher
spike index on the left hemisphere scored lower on attention deficit diagnostic
scale, auditory verbal learning test, and stroop test (P < 0.05), and the
group with a high spike index (10 > min) scored lower on full scale and
performance intelligence quotient (110.7 ± 18.0 vs. 96.8 ± 11.2;
107.4 ± 16.4 vs. 94.3 ± 12.8) (P < 0.05). In addition, five of
33 children (15%) exhibited attention difficulties as well as behavioral and
emotional difficulties even though they are mild. The data show that the BRE
sufferers are at risk for cognitive, attention, behavioral, and emotional
impairment, which might have relevance to localized interictal epileptiform
discharges. However, further studies are still needed to elucidate the core
nature of BRE.
