R. Caplan et al., PEDIATRIC RASMUSSEN ENCEPHALITIS - SOCIAL COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE, PET, AND PATHOLOGY BEFORE AND AFTER HEMISPHERECTOMY, Brain and cognition, 32(1), 1996, pp. 45-66
This prospective case study examined social communication (i.e., forma
l thought disorder, cohesion), language, positron emission tomography
glucose utilization, and neuropathology in four children with Rasmusse
n encephalitis who achieved seizure control following right hemisphere
ctomy. Prior to hemispherectomy, all four children had illogical think
ing, loose associations, cohesive deficits, and impaired performance o
n formal language tests. Their postoperative improvement in social com
munication and language appeared to be related to age of onset, durati
on of illness, and postsurgical reversibility of hypometabolism in the
nonresected prefrontal cortex. These changes were not associated with
increase in IQ scores. The variability in the type and extent of path
ologic change across subjects reflected the severity and duration of t
he illness. The study's findings imply that early surgical interventio
n might have mitigated certain aspects of the social communication and
linguistic deficits found in these children. (C) 1996 Academic Press,
Inc.