Assessment of Cognitive Functions in Children with Epilepsy and Prolonged Spike-Wave Activity during Slow Wave Sleep
Introduction. Continued spike wave activity during slow wave sleep (CSWS) is one of the causes of cognitive and behavioral impairment in children. Purpose. Choice of the methods for assessing cognitive functions in children with epilepsy and CSWS. Materials and methods. After analysis of the existing techniques, J.M. Glozman technique was selected, which includes the general characteristics of the child, the study of praxis, gnosis, speech, memory and intelligence. The technique lets to conduct both qualitative and quantitative assessment of cognitive functions in children of different ages. Results. An example of the study of cognitive functions with the method of Zh.M. Glozman in a 5-year-old child with focal epilepsy and CSWS was presented. Testing of cognitive functions showed that the patient had pronounced impairments in all areas of higher cortical functions before therapy, but with a predominant impairment of the right hand praxis, oral praxis, and phonemic hearing, which correlated with diffuse CSWS of a high index with amplitude predominance in the parietotemporal region on the left. During treatment, there was an improvement of more than 50% in behavior and speech. A low percentage of dynamics in the field of gnosis - 12% and praxis (due to oral praxis) - 40% correlates with EEG data after treatment. Conclusion. Zh.M. Glozman technique can be used to assess cognitive functions in children with epilepsy and CSWS and to assess the dynamics during treatment.