Eastern J Med. 2012; 17(4): 166-170

Epilepsy in children with cerebral palsy

Maja Jekovec- Vrhovsek¹

Cerebral palsy (CP) is one of the most common neurologic disorders in children, often complicated with other disabilities. Epilepsy (EPI) and learning disability (LD) are most common in these children. EPI complicates CP in 14-94%, depending on different type of CP being most frequent in tetraparetic children. Managing EPI in children with CP should follow general principles of treating EPI with special attention on possible side effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) or others drugs used for relieving symptoms or commorbidities. The paper is reviewing current information, dealing with epidemiology of both disorders, etiology, diagnosis of EPI in CP children and discuss general principles of therapy.

Keywords: Cerebral palsy, epilepsy, learning disability, antiepileptic treatment, side effects, spasticity, quality of life

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