Antiepileptic drugs in the treatment of autistic regression syndromes

Background: It is still not known whether epilepsy or subclinical epileptiform activity can generate autistic regression in children with pervasive development disorder (PDD) in a similar manner to the way linguistic and neurocognitive regression are produced in patients with Landau-Kleffner syndrome and electrical status epilepticus during slow-wave sleep (ESES). Data on the use of different antiepileptic drugs (AED) in Landau-Kleffner syndrome and in ESES is contradictory, but it has been proved that courses of polytherapy clearly have a harmful effect. It has been suggested that the suppression of subclinical epileptiform activity by the early use of AED can revert the disorders affecting behaviour, cognition and language in these patients. Nevertheless, few studies have been conducted to examine the influence of AED therapy on the clinical course of children with PDD and autistic regression and evidence of epileptiform activity in video-EEG-polygraph recordings during sleep. Cases of complete recovery or significant improvement following the use of AED such as valproate, ethosuximide, clobazam, oxcarbazepine, sulthiame, levetiracetam, topiramate or lamotrigine have been reported. Moreover, striking and sustained improvements have been reported with courses of corticoids or ACTH. Yet, we still do not know whether the natural history of PDD with autistic regression is linked to the persistence of epileptiform anomalies in the video-EEG-polygraph recordings or not, and it is therefore difficult to draw conclusions about whether early AED therapy should be established in these patients.

Conclusions: In our own clinical experience, lamotrigine has proved to be a good therapeutic alternative for the treatment of patients with autistic regression and paroxysmal anomalies in the EEG recordings, and offers a suitable balance between effectiveness and safety.