Columbus, OH — A doctor from Florida has presented results of a meta-analysis of studies which was conducted to closely examine the relationship of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with another prevalent neurological disorder, epilepsy.
Dr. Robert Tuchman, director for the Brain Development Network at Miami Children’s Hospital Dan Marino Center and a professor at the Department of Neurology and Psychiatry & Behavioral Health at Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, FIU, presented what could be a correlation between ASD and epilepsy.
In his presentation, Dr. Tuchman showed several observations he and other researchers have made during the meta-analysis of dozens of studies that analyzed the possible prevalence of epilepsy in children with ASD. Dr. Tuchman noted that co-diagnosis of epilepsy and ASD is common, citing a Norwegian study that involved over 730,000 patients wherein about 11.2% of children with ASD were also diagnosed with epilepsy. Conversely, about 6.1% of children diagnosed with epilepsy were also diagnosed with ASD.
Another study also suggested that intellectual disability, which is characterized by an IQ score lower than 70, is also commonly shared by patients with epilepsy and ASD.
Dr. Tuchman’s presentation took place at the NDC Symposium-Neurobiology of Disease in Children: Session I: Clinical Aspects at the 43rd Annual Child Neurology Society Meeting which was held Oct. 22-25.
The original article on the HCP Live website can be found here
Contributed by Althea Estrella Violeta