Sleep disorders and developmental dysphasias.

The relation between severe developmental dysphasia and paroxystical anomal ies was analyzed in 52 children, mean age 9 years (group I) suffering from developmental dysphasia, compared to a control group of 20 children, mean a ge 8 years (group II). The children of both groups were selected excluding cases with a prior history of epilepsy or neurological disease, and all had a cerebral MRI in the normal range. In group I, using the Rapin and Alien classification, we distinguished: 14 children with a syntactic-lexical synd rome and 34 children with a syntactic-phonological syndrome. Two children h ad verbal agnosia and two others verbal dyspraxia. The analysis of repeated standard EEGs showed normal recordings in ail the group II children and pa roxystical anomalies in sir of the 52 group I children. Night ambulatory sl eep recordings show ed such anomalies in 18 of the 34 children with a synta ctic-phonologic syndrome and in 6 of the 14 children with a syntactic-lexic al syndrome, but in only two of the 20 children of the control group. Parox ysmal abnormalities predominated in tight sleep (stages I+II) and slow wave steep (stages III+IV), but were rare in REM steep. The abnormalities were diffuse or localized over the left frontotemporal area. Children with devel opmental dysphasia also showed an inconstant nocturnal sleep pattern nah a higher incidence of awakenings during sleep significantly different from ou r group central. The relations between dysphasias, Landau-Kleffner syndrome paroxystical anomalies, and sleep disorders are discussed and the results of genetic research concerning such population suffering from language diso rders analyzed. (C) Elsevier; Paris.