Abstracts

Rationale: We would like to investigate the prevalence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder(ADHD) among children being treated for epilepsy, and determine the different characteristics of epilepsy patients with ADHD as opposed to the patients without ADHD, which will help in treating patients with two overlapped diseases. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 184 patients diagnosed as epilepsy and treated with antiepileptic drug in pediatric neurology department of Seoul St. Mary`s hospital from March, 2009 to May, 2012. The patients were between ages of 6 and 18 years. Only the patients who had regular checkups at least 1 year were included in the study. Results: 1) Out of 184 patients, 69 patients(37.5%) had both ADHD and epilepsy. 2) In epilepsy children with ADHD, male outnumbered female by almost two fold (male 67: female 33) (P=0.022). 3) In epilepsy children with ADHD, major focus of epileptiform discharges was identified as central part by 39% in EEG(electroencephalogram) (P=0.014). 4) 56% of patients who did not have ADHD could control epilepsy with single anticonvulsant, as opposed to 36% of patients with both ADHD and epilepsy (P=0.001). Therefore, the presence of ADHD in patients with epilepsy had a connection with the therapeutic response to anticonvulsants, and this can be one of a useful predictive factor of response to early treatment. Conclusions: Patients with ADHD and epilepsy showed noticeable difference and poor response to epilepsy treatment, as opposed to patients with just epilepsy. Therefore, early detection and establishment of countermeasures for ADHD is necessary.