This finding supports the idea that the abnormalities on EEG have a clinical effect, which could open the doors for treatment interventions.” Many neurologists do not treat abnormalities on EEG in the absence of seizures. “There is a lot of debate as to what to do with kids with and abnormalities on EEG but no history of seizures. “I think the most surprising findings were that kids with the abnormal EEGs and no seizures appeared more similar to kids with epilepsy in terms of adaptive functioning,” study author Jamie K. All 3 groups showed high rates of receptive and expressive language scores in the moderate-to-severe range of impairment, but language differences were expected in all 3 of the groups. The epilepsy group showed lower scores in all developmental and adaptive functioning measures compared to the group with normal EEG results, they added.

Plus, the abnormal EEG results group was similar to the epilepsy group, the researchers learned, but there were some differences in expressive language and fine motor skills. The researchers observed that the patients with abnormal EEG results demonstrated more impaired adaptive functioning when compared against the group with normal EEG results, they said. Most of the epileptiform dischargers were focal and most commonly found in the temporal region of the brain. One third of the abnormalities were epileptiform, the other third were “other” abnormalities. The remaining patients did not have epilepsy at the time of autism diagnosis, and, of those, a quarter had abnormal EEG results, according to the study authors. There were 70 patients diagnosed with epilepsy at the time of autism diagnosis, the researchers said. The investigators also gathered information about EEG results such as presence, characterization, and location of abnormalities. The researchers collected data about birth and medical history, developmental history, medications, and medical comorbidities while the subjects underwent developmental and language assessments. The researchers classified the participants into 3 groups: autism without epilepsy but with irregular EEG results, autism without epilepsy and with normal EEG results, and autism with epilepsy. Researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center studied 443 patients with autism in order to determine the relationship between epilepsy presence and/or abnormal EEG results and impairments linked to autism in young children. Abnormal electroencephalography (EEG) results or epilepsy in patients with autism suggest worsening development and adaptive functioning, according to new findings.

Normal eeg vs seizure eeg