Therapeutic use of carbohydrate-restricted diets in an autistic child; a case report of clinical and 18FDG PET findings.

The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, adequate-protein, and low-carbohydrate diet that has been used successfully in the treatment of refractory epilepsies for almost 100 years. There has been accumulating evidence to show that the KD may provide a therapeutic benefit in autism spectrum disorders, albeit by a yet-unknown mechanism. We report a case of a 6-year-old patient with high-functioning autism and subclinical epileptic discharges who responded poorly to several behavioural and psychopharmacological treatments. The patient was subsequently placed on the KD due to significant glucose hypometabolism in the brain as revealed by an 18FDG PET. As soon as one month after starting the KD, the patient's behavior and intellect improved (in regard to hyperactivity, attention span, abnormal reactions to visual and auditory stimuli, usage of objects, adaptability to changes, communication skills, fear, anxiety, and emotional reactions); these improvements continued until the end of the observation period at 16 months on the KD. The 18FDG PET, measured at 12 months on the KD, revealed that 18F-FDG uptake decreased markedly and diffusely in the whole cerebral cortex with a relatively low reduction in basal ganglia in comparison to the pre-KD assessment. It warrants further investigation if the 18FDG PET imaging could serve as a biomarker in identifying individuals with autism who might benefit from the KD due to underlying abnormalities related to glucose hypometabolism.

Intellectual efficiency of children with unilateral hearing loss.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of our study was to observe the consequences of unilateral hearing loss with regard to intellectual functioning and development of children. METHODS: The studies were conducted on the group of 64 children (42 boys and 22 girls) aged 6-16 years with left- or right-sided hearing loss using D. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC). RESULTS: Children with right-sided hearing loss had a limited range of concepts, lower capability of learning verbal material and logical reasoning, abstract thinking and classifying. Left-sided hearing loss caused deterioration of intellectual abilities within non-verbal intelligence. Such a children had poorer abilities for analyzing, synthesizing and visual memory, worse spatial imagination and visual coordination. CONCLUSIONS: The examined children with unilateral hearing loss achieved the intelligence quotient on the average level in D. Wechsler Intelligence Scale. The side of hearing loss has a significant influence on the development of individual intellectual functions.

Personality features of children treated due to vocal nodules.

There were estimated 14 features of personality of the children treated for vocal nodules. The purpose of study was definition of the selected features, which are typical of the examined group. The conclusion drawn from the conducted studies was: the children cured of the vocal nodules are more excitable, nervous, independent and often--individualists. They are inclined to leading and dominating. The results of the study suggest that psychotherapy can be completion of traditional treatment for vocal nodules in children.