RESUMO
Rivastigmine tartrate is a dual-action cholinesterase inhibitor shown to improve language, cognition, and global functioning in patients with Alzheimer's disease, likely via increased availability of cerebral acetylcholine. Because cholinergic receptor abnormalities can contribute to the neuropathology of autistic spectrum disorders, rivastigmine tartrate could prove to be an effective therapy for affected children. Observations of improved behavior and language output from prior open-label and double-blind treatment of autistic children with donepezil, another cholinesterase inhibitor, prompted this 12-week open-label study with rivastigmine tartrate of 32 autistic patients. Therapeutic indices were the Childhood Autistic Rating Scale, Gardner's Expressive and Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary tests, and the Conners' Parent Rating Scale. Testing administered at baseline, 6 weeks, and 12 weeks showed gains in both expressive speech and overall autistic behavior over baseline. These improvements were statistically significant and supported the hypothesis that treatment with cholinergic enhancing drugs in autistic spectrum disorders yields positive therapeutic effects.
Assuntos
Transtorno Autístico/tratamento farmacológico , Carbamatos/uso terapêutico , Transtornos Globais do Desenvolvimento Infantil/tratamento farmacológico , Inibidores da Colinesterase/uso terapêutico , Fenilcarbamatos , Acetilcolina/metabolismo , Transtorno Autístico/diagnóstico , Transtorno Autístico/psicologia , Encéfalo/efeitos dos fármacos , Carbamatos/efeitos adversos , Criança , Transtornos Globais do Desenvolvimento Infantil/diagnóstico , Transtornos Globais do Desenvolvimento Infantil/psicologia , Pré-Escolar , Inibidores da Colinesterase/efeitos adversos , Transtornos Cognitivos/diagnóstico , Transtornos Cognitivos/tratamento farmacológico , Feminino , Humanos , Transtornos do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem/diagnóstico , Transtornos do Desenvolvimento da Linguagem/tratamento farmacológico , Masculino , Testes Neuropsicológicos , Reconhecimento Visual de Modelos/efeitos dos fármacos , Determinação da Personalidade , Rivastigmina , Comportamento Social , Resultado do Tratamento , VocabulárioRESUMO
Epileptiform activity in sleep has been described even in the absence of clinical seizures in 43-68% of patients with autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs). Genetic factors may play a significant role in the frequency of epilepsy, yet the frequency in normal age-matched controls is unknown. We studied overnight ambulatory electroencephalograms (EEGs) in 12 nonepileptic, nonautistic children with a sibling with both ASDs and an abnormal EEG. EEG studies were read and described independently by two pediatric epileptologists; 10 were normal studies and 2 were abnormal. The occurrence of abnormal EEGs in our sample (16.6%) was lower than the reported occurrence in children with ASDs. Further, the two abnormal EEGs were of types typically found in childhood and were different from those found in the ASD-affected siblings. The lack of similarity between sibling EEGs suggests that genetic factors alone do not explain the higher frequency of EEG abnormalities reported in ASDs.