A long-term follow-up of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural sequelae toReye syndrome

Eighteen adolescents who had survived Reye syndrome (RS) in early childhood were assessed on cognitive, emotional, and behavioural variables in a seco nd follow-up study tracking this group. Siblings were used as controls. The entire group with RS had survived with no obvious neurological damage at t he first follow-up study. Indeed, current findings suggested that long-term cognitive, emotional, and behavioural functioning was comparable to siblin gs in approximately half of the group with RS. However, two factors were as sociated with a less favourable outcome. Cognitive, emotional, and behaviou ral functioning were significantly poorer in the subgroup of survivors whos e illness had occurred in the first year of life. In addition, loss of cons ciousness, although the association with poor outcome was not as noticeable , was also associated with relative deficits on some scales of cognitive ab ility. Many of these deficits had not been obvious at the first follow-up a nd the importance of neurodevelopmental factors are considered. Finally, th e implications of these findings for research and interventions in RS and o ther such encephalopathies are discussed.