Cognitive impairment in childhood-onset epilepsy

Abstract

In pediatric practice, epilepsy holds one of the leading places among neurological pathologies. Along with seizures, a child's intellectual impairment lowering quality of life plays a crucial role in social disintegration. Cognitive impairments occuring in idiopathic generalized epilepsies (IGE) and self-limited epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (SeLECTS) considered benign have been widely investigated. However, available data suggest that such disorders result in multiple persistent alterations in the cognitive sphere. In this case, features of the epilepsy etiopathogenesis account for disease early onset and profoundly remodeled structures involved in the implementation of cognitive functions. Current review is aimed to summarizing data regarding developmental mechanisms and range of cognitive impairment in IGE and SeLECTS.