Epilepsy surgery in children with developmental tumours.

We report our experience regarding evaluation, surgical treatment and outcomes in a population of 21 children with histopathologically confirmed developmental tumours [nine dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumours (DNET), ten gangliogliomas (GG) and two gangliocytomas (GC)] and related epilepsy, analyzing video-EEG, MRI and neuropsychological data, before and after surgery. Most children had focal epilepsy correlating well with lesion location. One patient had epileptic spasms and generalized discharges. Tumours were located in the temporal lobe in 13 patients. Mean age at surgery was 11.16 years. Postsurgical MRI showed residual tumour growth in one DNET. One child had a recurrent ganglioglioma with anaplastic transformation. At latest follow-up (mean 4.68 years) 95.2% of patients were seizure-free and no significant neuropsychological declines were observed. Evidence from our study suggests that, in this setting, surgery should be performed before criteria for refractory epilepsy are met, particularly in cases with early seizure onset, in order to optimize cognitive outcome.

Cerebellum atrophy and development of a peripheral dysgraphia: a paediatric case.

Two types of dysgraphia may be distinguished: the core ones, which reflect damage to the linguistic orthographic routes, and the peripheral ones, produced by alterations in the selection or execution of graphic motor patterns. We report the case of an 8-year-old male child, who consulted specialists due to difficulties in writing, with a background of acute cerebellar swelling at the age of 4. The writing pattern he has developed shows characteristic errors of a peripheral dysgraphia. The magnetic resonance imaging taken during the neuropsychological evaluation shows a mild atrophy in the cerebellum cortex. Our case is similar to previous studies of adult patients and equally supports the fact that the functional network responsible for the peripheral control of writing abilities may include the cerebellum, which not only maintains previously learnt writing processes but is also involved in the evolutionary acquisition of this ability.

Relación entre estilos y estrategias de afrontamiento y bienestar psicológico en adolescentes / Relationship between coping strategies and psychological well-being in adolescents

Las estrategias de afrontamiento utilizadas por los adolescentes pueden incidir en su desarrollo psico-lógico. En el presente trabajo se estudió la relación entre el afrontamiento y el bienestar psicológico, así como la incidencia de la edad y el género sobre estas variables. La muestra está formada por 417 adolescentes entre 15 y 18 años. Las estrategias de afrontamiento se evaluaron con el ACS (Frydenberg y Lewis, 1996a) y el bienestar psicológico con el BIEPS (Casullo y Castro, 2000). Los resultados señalan una escasa relación de la edad con el afrontamiento y el bienestar psicológico. En cuanto al género, las mujeres poseen mayor repertorio de estrategias de afrontamiento y menos habilidad para afrontar los problemas que los varones. El nivel de bienestar psicológico establece diferencias más claras respecto a las estrategias de afrontamiento utilizadas que la edad y el género (AU)

Coping strategies used by adolescents may have an effect on their psychological development. This piece of research studied the relationships between coping and psychological well-being and the effect that age and gender had on these variables. The sample was made up of 417 adolescents between 15 and 18 years old. Coping strategies were evaluated by using ACS (Frydenberg & Lewis, 1996a) and well-being by means of the BIEPS (Casullo & Castro, 2000). The results showed that the relationship between age and coping and psychological well-being was not a close one. As to gender, adolescent women used a greater variety of coping strategies and were less skilful in coping with problems than men. Clearer differences with regard to the coping strategies used were established by the level of psychological well-being than by age and gender (AU)