Clinical Impact of Epileptiform Discharge in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical significance of epileptiform discharges in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The authors retrospectively reviewed 180 children who were diagnosed with ADHD and had an electroencephalography (EEG) recording. Epileptiform discharges were found in 29 (16.1%) of 180 patients with ADHD. Of these, 15 (8.3%) had generalized epileptiform discharges and 14 (7.7%) had focal epileptiform discharges. The focal epileptiform discharges were most prevalent from the frontal (5/14) and rolandic area (5/14). Among the 29 patients with epileptiform discharges and ADHD, 5 patients had previous history of epilepsy and 4 patients developed epilepsy later, whereas none of the normal EEG group developed epilepsy. The authors suggest that interictal epileptiform discharges appear to be associated with seizure occurrence in children with ADHD and might reflect maturational pathophysiology overlapping with epilepsy.