LANGUAGE DYSFUNCTION IN CHILDREN WITH ROLANDIC EPILEPSY

Rolandic epilepsy is regarded as the classic example of benign focal e pilepsy. However, neuropsychological deficits have been noted in affec ted children. As Rolandic discharges are mainly distributed over the c entrotemporal region, specific interference with language function mig ht be suspected. Therefore, we conducted a standardized neuropsycholog ical assessment in children with Rolandic epilepsy which covered all i mportant aspects of language processing. We measured Intelligence Quot ient, verbal memory, auditory discrimination, vocabulary, grammar and literacy in 20 children with an active Rolandic focus. Information abo ut performance at school was obtained from teachers by means of a ques tionnaire. Patients with Rolandic epilepsy failed five of the twelve s tandardized language tests significantly more often than the normative population and consequently showed impairment of the following functi ons: reading, spelling, auditory verbal learning, auditory discriminat ion with background noise and expressive grammar. Thirteen of the 20 c hildren showed language dysfunction with difficulties in two or more o f the twelve standardized language tests. In eight of these 13 childre n the Full Scale Intelligence Quotient was within average range, indic ating a specific language deficit. Language dysfunction was closely as sociated with learning difficulties at school. This study documents a consistent pattern of language dysfunction in children with Rolandic e pilepsy which suggests interictal dysfunction of perisylvian language areas.