This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Saemundsen, E. Articles by Rafnsson, V. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Saemundsen, E. Articles by Rafnsson, V. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Autism Spectrum Disorders in Children With a History of Infantile Spasms: A Population-Based Study

Division of Autism and Communication Disorders, State Diagnostic and Counseling Center, Kopavogur, Iceland, evald{at}greining.is

Petur Ludvigsson, MD

Department of Pediatrics, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland

Vilhjalmur Rafnsson, MD, PhD

Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik

The objective of this article is to describe autistic spectrum disorders in children diagnosed with infantile spasms in the first year of life. The source of data was the records of all 3 pediatric departments in Iceland. Twenty children born between 1981 and 1998 who had infantile spasms were invited to participate. When appropriate, the parents of these children were asked to complete the Social Communication Questionnaire. Children scoring 10 points or higher on the questionnaire were selected for further examination using the Autism Diagnostic Interview– Revised and either the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule or the Childhood Autism Rating Scale. All participants were given appropriate cognitive tests or measures of adaptive behavior. The parents of 17 children (10 boys, 7 girls) agreed to participate in the study. Age at assessment ranged from 5 to 19 years with a mean age of 11 years and 6 months. Fourteen children had at least one neurodevelopmental disorder. Six (6/17), or 35.3%, were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (3 boys, 3 girls), five of these had a history of symptomatic infantile spasms, and four were profoundly mentally retarded (IQ/DQ<20). If the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder was restricted to children with a developmental age of 24 months or more (3 cases), the prevalence was 17.6%. The estimates found in this study exceed the estimated prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in the general population.

Key Words: infantile spasms • autism spectrum disorder

Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 22, No. 9, 1102-1107 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0883073807306251


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L.D. Hamiwka and E.C. Wirrell Comorbidities in Pediatric Epilepsy: Beyond ``Just'' Treating the Seizures J Child Neurol, June 1, 2009; 24(6): 734 - 742. [Abstract] [PDF]