Should Every Child with Autism Have an EEG? (TED Presentation)

HuckleB

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Wed Sep-22-10 10:49 PM
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Should Every Child with Autism Have an EEG? (TED Presentation)

http://brainposts.blogspot.com/2010/09/should-every-child-with-autism-have-eeg.html

"TED presentation by Dr. Aditi Shankardass brings up an important question--should all children with autism (or those undergoing an assessment for autism) have an EEG. The presenter notes that in her experience in India, up to 50% of children referred with a diagnosis of autism have a seizure disorder or some other neurodevelopmental disorder.

...

So what about assessment guidelines for autism in the United States and Europe? One of the best autism guidelines I could track down came from the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network. This free guideline pdf document can be located here. The guideline is titled: "Assessment, diagnosis and clinical interventions for people with autism spectrum disorders. A national clinical guideline".

The guidelines provide a comprehensive review of the evidence supporting a variety of measures in the assessment process. The recommendation from the guideline related to standard EEG assessment is summarized: "Whilst epilepsy is common in children with ASD, there is no indication for an electroencephalogram (EEG) in the absence of other clinical criteria." This recommendation comes with a citation from a 2005 review article by Kagan-Kushnir.

This review notes that seizures occur in 20-30% of children with autism and EEG abnormalities have been found in 10 to 72% of study samples. Subclinical EEG abnormalities have been found in 6-30% of samples. The authors note "There is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against the use of screening EEGs in autistic patients. Given the frequency of seizure disorders in this patient population, a high index of clinical suspicion should be maintained for subtle symptoms of seizures".

..."

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A fairly interesting video presentation. If you have an interest in autism, developmental disabilities, etc... I think it's worth the seven minutes.

Cheers!

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Warpy

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Wed Sep-22-10 11:15 PM
Response to Original message

1. It certainly wouldn't hurt

especially since seizures can usually be controlled to the point of reducing further damage.

In addition, the differential diagnosis can be made in very young, preverbal children, meaning that appropriate treatment (pharmaceutical for seizures and behavioral for autism) can be started as soon as possible.

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HuckleB

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Wed Sep-22-10 11:43 PM
Response to Reply #1

2. Good points.

i suspect there is much more to this, and I'd like to learn more about this research, as, in my experience, some kids who have seizures don't have them show up on an EEG until the second, third, or fourth EEG, if that.

:toast:

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tavalon

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Tue Oct-05-10 07:10 PM
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3. Ah, that brings back memories.........

Of my husband and me holding our child down on the exam table for 40 minutes while he screamed non-stop during the EEG. Needless to say, the EEG was, well, worthless. Now, they want us to have him do a sleep study and they can't figure out why we fall over on the floor laughing. They think we don't want him to have one. They have no idea!

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HuckleB

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Tue Oct-05-10 07:38 PM
Response to Reply #3

4. There's no question that it's not easy for some.

Still, the research that's outlined in the talk seems worthwhile.

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tavalon

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Tue Oct-05-10 08:19 PM
Response to Reply #4

5. Understatement of the year

Luckily, our Pediatric Neurologist decided to treat our kid for likely temporal lobe seizures and while he is still profoundly autistic, he no longer hurts himself or others.

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HuckleB

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Tue Oct-05-10 10:31 PM
Response to Reply #5

7. That's good to hear!

Take care.

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Odin2005

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Tue Oct-05-10 10:27 PM
Response to Reply #3

6. I'm assuming the whole thing set off sensory overload. poor guy!

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tavalon

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Wed Oct-06-10 09:33 AM
Response to Reply #6

8. He is easily frightened by all things medical

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Odin2005

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Wed Oct-06-10 03:33 PM
Response to Reply #8

9. Heh, I was FASCINATED by the stuff. I loved going to the doctor.

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tavalon

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Thu Oct-07-10 04:47 AM
Response to Reply #9

10. And so goes to prove that autistic folk are as varied as every other supposed grouping, eh?

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Odin2005

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Thu Oct-07-10 07:58 AM
Response to Reply #10

11. Yep.

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