Clinical and Etiological Evaluation of Children With Speech Disorders From The Perspective of Child Neurology

Introduction-Aims of the study: Language is the unique way of human communication and speech is its motor presentation. Previous studies documented that %6-94 of the developmental dysphasic children have nocturnal interictal epileptiform activities (IEA). We aimed to evaluate the risk factors, EEG and neuroimaging findings and genetic analysis of speech disordered children. Methods: This retrospective study includes 414 children with speech disorders referred to our tertiary pediatic neurology clinic in Istanbul, Turkey. Children were evaluated with the EEG recordings, some were underwent a brain MRI and genetic analysis. Results: Of the 414 patients, %66,7 (n=276) were male and %33,3 (n=138) were female. The median age was 39 months (28-54). It was determined a significant amount of perinatal risk factors; such as prematurity (%19), a history of neonatal intensive care unit stay (%17,4) and jaundice (%16,3) were found. Family history of speech problems were found in %25 of the children and %17,4 of the families had consanguinity. EEG recordings showed %20 of the children had IEA and most of them were multifocal (%41,7) and focal (%31,7). Epilepsy was common (%25) among the children with IEA’s. About %30 of the children underwent a brain MRI were documented to have an abnormality and %47 of the genetically analyzed children had mutations. A third of the children medicated by antiseizure drugs were later stated to have improved speech. Conclusion: Nocturnal EEG recordings must be evaluated in speech disordered children. It is argued whether antiseizure medications may cause improvement of a child’s language and speech.