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Abstract: Subtle specific interference with language function has been suspected in benign rolandic epilepsy (BRE) because of the location of the seizure focus. The aim of this study was to investigate the language and speech problems in BRE and the changes after medication with carbamazepine. Benign rolandic epilepsy patients (n =11) who met ILAE criteria were assessed for standardized full articulation. Speech problems were present in BRE patients and worsened after medication. The error pattern of laryngeal articulation in BRE was exclusively the substitution of stop consonants, and these errors increased after medication (6% vs 13%). In this study, the variation in acoustic parameters after carbamazepine was similar to the hypokinetic pattern of articulation abnormalities. Our findings suggest that BRE patients treated with carbamazepine should be monitored for language and speech problems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The aim of the current study was to assess the influences of valproate (VPA) on the language functions in newly diagnosed pediatric patients with epilepsy. We reviewed medical records of 53 newly diagnosed patients with epilepsy, who were being treated with VPA monotherapy (n = 53; 22 male patients and 31 female patients). The subjects underwent standardized language tests, at least twice, before and after the initiation of VPA. The standardized language tests used were The Test of Language Problem Solving Abilities , a Korean version of The Expressive / Receptive Language Function Test , and the Urimal Test of Articulation and Phonology . Since all the patients analyzed spoke Korean as their first language, we used Korean language tests to reduce the bias within the data. All the language parameters of the Test of Language Problem Solving Abilities slightly improved after the initiation of VPA in the 53 pediatric patients with epilepsy (mean age: 11.6 ± 3.2 years), but only “prediction” was statistically significant (determining cause, 14.9 ± 5.1 to 15.5 ± 4.3; making inference, 16.1 ± 5.8 to 16.9 ± 5.6; prediction, 11.1 ± 4.9 to 11.9 ± 4.2; total score of TOPS, 42.0 ± 14.4 to 44.2 ± 12.5). The patients treated with VPA also exhibited a small extension in mean length of utterance in words (MLU-w) when responding, but this was not statistically significant (determining cause, 5.4 ± 2.0 to 5.7 ± 1.6; making inference, 5.8 ± 2.2 to 6.0 ± 1.8; prediction, 5.9 ± 2.5 to 5.9 ± 2.1; total, 5.7 ± 2.1 to 5.9 ± 1.7). The administration of VPA led to a slight, but not statistically significant, improvement in the receptive language function (range: 144.7 ± 41.1 to 148.2 ± 39.7). Finally, there were no statistically significant changes in the percentage of articulation performance after taking VPA. Therefore, our data suggested that VPA did not have negative impact on the language function, but rather slightly improved problem-solving abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The aim of this study was to identify the different influencing patterns of demographic and epilepsy-related variables on various aspects of psychosocial function in pediatric epilepsy. Method Five hundred ninety-eight patients with pediatric epilepsy between the ages of 4 and 18 years (boys = 360, 60% and girls = 238, 40%) and their parents participated in the study. Parents completed the Social Maturity Scale (SMS), the Korean version of the Child Behavior Checklist (K-CBCL), and the Korean version of the Quality of Life in Childhood Epilepsy Questionnaire (K-QOLCE) to assess daily living function, behavior, and quality of life. The Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) was completed by clinicians to assess general adaptive function. Demographic variables, such as age and sex of child, and epilepsy-related clinical variables, including seizure type, seizure frequency, duration of epilepsy, and number of medications, were obtained from medical records. Results Demographic and epilepsy-related clinical variables had a strong influence (22–32%) on the cognition-related domain such as general adaptive function, school/total competence, and quality of life for cognitive function while a comparatively smaller effect (2–16%) on the more psychological domain including behavioral, emotional, and social variables. Younger age, shorter duration of illness, and smaller number of medications showed a strong positive impact on psychosocial function in pediatric epilepsy, particularly for adaptive function, competence, and quality-of-life aspects. Conclusion Given the wide range of impact of demographic and clinical variables on various facets of psychosocial functions, more specific understanding of the various aspects of factors and their particular pattern of influence may enable more effective therapeutic approaches that address both the medical and psychological needs in pediatric epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]