Components of attention in children with complex partial seizures with andwithout ADHD

Purpose: To evaluate attentional difficulties in children with complex part ial seizures, we reviewed the records of 12 children with complex partial s eizures with attention deficient hyperactivity disorder (CPS/ADBD); 21 chil dren with CPS without ADHD (CPS); 22 children with ADHD; and 15 control chi ldren. Methods: Each child completed a computerized performance test (CPT), which evaluated sustained attention, inhibition of response, response time, and c onsistency of response. The ADHD groups also completed the CPT after a dose of methylphenidate. Results: The results found poorest performance on the CPT by the CPS/ADHD g roup. particular difficulty in attention was found for children with epilep sy regardless of the ADHD diagnosis. When methylphenidate was administered to the ADHD groups, both groups improved in performance on the CPT. Conclusions: Epilepsy may predispose children to attention problems that ca n significantly interfere with learning. Similar improvement for children w ith CPS/ADHD was found with methylphenidate compared with baseline as for c hildren with ADHD but without CPS.