Abstract:
Background:Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often presents a treatment challenge due to thevariety of symptoms that make each case unique. Medication prescribed to manageASD associated symptoms such as anxiety, depression, attention issues, andbehavioral problems often fail to alleviate symptoms and can produceundesirable side effects. The question is, why are the stimulants, selectiveserotonin reuptake inhibitors, and antipsychotics prescribed to alleviate theseissues [1] effective in some patients but fail in others? The answer could berelated to the increased prevalence of electroencephalographic abnormalities inpsychiatric patients [2]. The presence of isolated epileptiform discharges(IEDs) may account for the treatment failure of these medications, especiallyantipsychotics, because these drugs lower seizure threshold, thus resulting inincreased epileptiform activity. Electroencephalography (EEG) can be used todocument the presence of IEDs that would otherwise go undetected. The purposeof the study was to reveal the prevalence of IEDs in the ASD patient populationand to demonstrate the usefulness of the EEG for providing data topsychiatrists, neurologists, and developmental pediatricians to improvemedication selection and outcomes for patients with ASD.
Method:
The data was obtained from an Institution Review Board approved data archivefrom a multidisciplinary practice that treats a wide variety of refractory andneuroatypical patients. The study is comprised of 140 non-epileptic children,adolescents, and adults diagnosed with ASD, ages 4 to 25. A board certifiedelectroencephalographer interpreted the EEGs in order to identifyabnormalities.
