Dysgraphia as a Mild Expression of Dystonia in Children with Absence Epilepsy.
Absence epilepsy (AE) is etiologically heterogeneous and has at times been associated with idiopathic dystonia.Based on the clinical observation that children with AE often exhibit, interictally, a disorder resembling writer's cramp but fully definable as dysgraphia, we tested the hypothesis th...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2015-01-01
|
Series: | PLoS ONE |
Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4488862?pdf=render |
id |
doaj-d0ccf51d27954bb69ae2c6a92384066f |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-d0ccf51d27954bb69ae2c6a92384066f2020-11-25T00:25:36ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-01107e013088310.1371/journal.pone.0130883Dysgraphia as a Mild Expression of Dystonia in Children with Absence Epilepsy.Renzo GuerriniFederico MelaniClaudia BrancatiAnna Rita FerrariPaola BrovedaniAnnibale BiggeriLaura GrisottoSimona PellacaniAbsence epilepsy (AE) is etiologically heterogeneous and has at times been associated with idiopathic dystonia.Based on the clinical observation that children with AE often exhibit, interictally, a disorder resembling writer's cramp but fully definable as dysgraphia, we tested the hypothesis that in this particular population dysgraphia would represent a subtle expression of dystonia.We ascertained the prevalence of dysgraphia in 82 children with AE (mean age 9.7) and average intelligence and compared them with 89 age-, gender- and class-matched healthy children (mean age 10.57) using tests for handwriting fluency and quality, based on which we divided patients and controls into four subgroups: AE/dysgraphia, AE without dysgraphia, controls with dysgraphia and healthy controls. We compared the blink reflex recovery cycle in children belonging to all four subgroups.We identified dysgraphia in 17/82 children with AE and in 7/89 controls (20.7 vs 7.8%; P = 0.016) with the former having a 3.4-times higher risk of dysgraphia regardless of age and gender (odd ratio: 3.49; 95% CI 1.2, 8.8%). The AE/dysgraphia subgroup performed worse than controls with dysgraphia in one test of handwriting fluency (P = 0.037) and in most trials testing handwriting quality (P< 0.02). In children with AE/dysgraphia the blink reflex showed no suppression at short interstimulus intervals, with a difference for each value emerging when comparing the study group with the three remaining subgroups (P<0.001).In children with AE, dysgraphia is highly prevalent and has a homogeneous, distinctive pathophysiological substrate consistent with idiopathic dystonia.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4488862?pdf=render |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Renzo Guerrini Federico Melani Claudia Brancati Anna Rita Ferrari Paola Brovedani Annibale Biggeri Laura Grisotto Simona Pellacani |
spellingShingle |
Renzo Guerrini Federico Melani Claudia Brancati Anna Rita Ferrari Paola Brovedani Annibale Biggeri Laura Grisotto Simona Pellacani Dysgraphia as a Mild Expression of Dystonia in Children with Absence Epilepsy. PLoS ONE |
author_facet |
Renzo Guerrini Federico Melani Claudia Brancati Anna Rita Ferrari Paola Brovedani Annibale Biggeri Laura Grisotto Simona Pellacani |
author_sort |
Renzo Guerrini |
title |
Dysgraphia as a Mild Expression of Dystonia in Children with Absence Epilepsy. |
title_short |
Dysgraphia as a Mild Expression of Dystonia in Children with Absence Epilepsy. |
title_full |
Dysgraphia as a Mild Expression of Dystonia in Children with Absence Epilepsy. |
title_fullStr |
Dysgraphia as a Mild Expression of Dystonia in Children with Absence Epilepsy. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dysgraphia as a Mild Expression of Dystonia in Children with Absence Epilepsy. |
title_sort |
dysgraphia as a mild expression of dystonia in children with absence epilepsy. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
series |
PLoS ONE |
issn |
1932-6203 |
publishDate |
2015-01-01 |
description |
Absence epilepsy (AE) is etiologically heterogeneous and has at times been associated with idiopathic dystonia.Based on the clinical observation that children with AE often exhibit, interictally, a disorder resembling writer's cramp but fully definable as dysgraphia, we tested the hypothesis that in this particular population dysgraphia would represent a subtle expression of dystonia.We ascertained the prevalence of dysgraphia in 82 children with AE (mean age 9.7) and average intelligence and compared them with 89 age-, gender- and class-matched healthy children (mean age 10.57) using tests for handwriting fluency and quality, based on which we divided patients and controls into four subgroups: AE/dysgraphia, AE without dysgraphia, controls with dysgraphia and healthy controls. We compared the blink reflex recovery cycle in children belonging to all four subgroups.We identified dysgraphia in 17/82 children with AE and in 7/89 controls (20.7 vs 7.8%; P = 0.016) with the former having a 3.4-times higher risk of dysgraphia regardless of age and gender (odd ratio: 3.49; 95% CI 1.2, 8.8%). The AE/dysgraphia subgroup performed worse than controls with dysgraphia in one test of handwriting fluency (P = 0.037) and in most trials testing handwriting quality (P< 0.02). In children with AE/dysgraphia the blink reflex showed no suppression at short interstimulus intervals, with a difference for each value emerging when comparing the study group with the three remaining subgroups (P<0.001).In children with AE, dysgraphia is highly prevalent and has a homogeneous, distinctive pathophysiological substrate consistent with idiopathic dystonia. |
url |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4488862?pdf=render |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT renzoguerrini dysgraphiaasamildexpressionofdystoniainchildrenwithabsenceepilepsy AT federicomelani dysgraphiaasamildexpressionofdystoniainchildrenwithabsenceepilepsy AT claudiabrancati dysgraphiaasamildexpressionofdystoniainchildrenwithabsenceepilepsy AT annaritaferrari dysgraphiaasamildexpressionofdystoniainchildrenwithabsenceepilepsy AT paolabrovedani dysgraphiaasamildexpressionofdystoniainchildrenwithabsenceepilepsy AT annibalebiggeri dysgraphiaasamildexpressionofdystoniainchildrenwithabsenceepilepsy AT lauragrisotto dysgraphiaasamildexpressionofdystoniainchildrenwithabsenceepilepsy AT simonapellacani dysgraphiaasamildexpressionofdystoniainchildrenwithabsenceepilepsy |
_version_ |
1725347960152129536 |