Longitudinal changes in emotional functioning following pediatric resective epilepsy surgery: 2-Year follow-up

Effect of sex on neuropsychiatric comorbidities in childhood epilepsy

OBJECTIVE

Neuropsychiatric comorbidities are prevalent in children with epilepsy and often pose greater concerns than the seizures themselves. Identifying children at risk for these conditions is crucial for developing effective therapies. In prepubescent rodents, sex significantly influences cognitive dysfunction related to seizures, with prepubescent male rats exhibiting more severe adverse effects than females. However, it remains unclear whether sex plays a similar role in cognitive and behavioral outcomes in children. This review aims to assess the literature on whether sex is a biological factor affecting behavioral and cognitive outcomes in pediatric epilepsy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We conducted a literature review to explore the impact of sex on cognitive and behavioral outcomes in children (up to age 18 years) with epilepsy of all types. Studies were categorized into observational and interventional types. We analyzed population studies involving children with epilepsy, as well as those addressing genetic factors, surgical interventions, status epilepticus, infantile spasms, pharmacological treatments, and the ketogenic diet.

RESULTS

Few adequately powered studies have examined sex as a biological variable in relation to cognitive and behavioral impairments in children with epilepsy. In addition, many studies failed to examine sex-related differences in behavior and cognition in children without epilepsy. Generally, the sex-related differences in cognitive and behavioral impairments in children with epilepsy match those seen in children without epilepsy. One exception is that in several studies girls with epilepsy had a similar risk for attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) as boys, whereas in children without epilepsy ADHD is more common in boys than girls. Although there is a modest trend indicating worse cognitive outcomes for boys with epilepsy compared to girls, consistency across studies is lacking.

CONCLUSION

Sex is not yet a well-explored prognostic factor for outcomes following childhood epilepsy, though some small differences were identified for specific outcomes. More rigorously designed studies are necessary to report outcomes by sex while controlling for potential confounders. The variability in methods for assessing neurodevelopmental outcomes underscores the need for standardized and comprehensive evaluations of cognitive and behavior in children with epilepsy.

Incorporating patient-centered quality-of-life measures for outcome assessment after Chiari malformation type I decompression in a pediatric population: a pilot study

OBJECTIVE

Optimal management of pediatric Chiari malformation type I (CM-I) is much debated, chiefly due to the lack of validated tools for outcome assessment, with very few tools incorporating patient-centered measures of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Although posterior fossa decompression (PFD) benefits a subset of patients, prediction of its impact across patients is challenging. The primary aim of this study was to investigate the role of patient-centered HRQOL measures in the assessment and prediction of outcomes after PFD.

METHODS

The authors collected HRQOL data from a cohort of 20 pediatric CM-I patients before and after PFD. The surveys included assessments of selected Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) health domains and were used to generate the PROMIS preference (PROPr) score, which is a measure of HRQOL. PROMIS is a reliable standardized measure of HRQOL domains such as pain, fatigue, depression, and physical function, which are all relevant to CM-I. The authors then compared the PROPr scores with Chicago Chiari Outcome Scale (CCOS) scores derived from time-matched clinical documentation. Finally, the authors used the PROPr scores as an outcome measure to predict postsurgical HRQOL improvement at 1 year on the basis of patient demographic characteristics, comorbidities, and radiological and physical findings. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Mann-Whitney U-test, and Kendall's correlation were used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Aggregate analysis revealed improvement of pain severity after PFD (p = 0.007) in anatomical patterns characteristic of CM-I. Most PROMIS domain scores trended toward improvement after surgery, with anxiety and pain interference reaching statistical significance (p < 0.002 and p < 0.03, respectively). PROPr scores also significantly improved after PFD (p < 0.008). Of the baseline patient characteristics, preexisting scoliosis was the most accurate negative predictor of HRQOL improvement after PFD (median -0.095 vs 0.106, p < 0.001). A correlation with modest magnitude (Kendall's tau range 0.19-0.47) was detected between the patient-centered measures and CCOS score.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors observed moderate improvement of HRQOL, when measured using a modified panel of PROMIS question banks, in this pilot cohort of pediatric CM-I patients after PFD. Further investigations are necessary to validate this tool for children with CM-I and to determine whether these scores correlate with clinical and radiographic findings.