A PREVALENCE STUDY OF AUTISM IN TUBEROUS SCLEROSIS

An estimate of the prevalence of autism tn tuberous sclerosis (TSC) wa s made by interviewing the parents of 21 children between ages 3 and 1 1 ascertained during a previous population study of the condition in t he West of Scotland. Five of the children (24%) were rated autistic an d a further four (19%), all of whom were girls, had socially impaired behavior categorized as pervasive developmental disorder, without fulf illing all the DSM-III-R criteria for autism. One further boy had disr uptive attention-seeking behavior that had excluded him from his norma l school. The estimated prevalence from this study of autism in TSC is 1 in 4 children in general, and 1 in 2 of those with mental retardati on. Tuberous sclerosis could be a significant cause of autism and perv asive developmental disorders, particularly in girls.