ABSTRACT
Objectives: To perform a detailed description of executive functioning following moderate-to-severe childhood traumatic brain injury (TBI), and to study demographic and severity factors influencing outcome. Methods: A convenience sample of children/adolescents aged 7-16 years, referred to a rehabilitation department after a TBI (n = 43), was compared to normative data using a newly developed neuropsychological test battery (Child Executive Functions Battery-CEF-B) and the BRIEF. Results: Performance in the TBI group was significantly impaired in most of the CEF-B subtests, with moderate to large effect sizes. Regarding everyday life, patients were significantly impaired in most BRIEF clinical scales, either in parent or in teacher reports. Univariate correlations in the TBI group did not yield significant correlations between the CEF-B and socio-economic status, TBI severity, age at injury, or time since injury. Conclusion: Executive functioning is severely altered following moderate-to-severe childhood TBI and is best assessed using a combination of developmentally appropriate neuropsychological tests and behavioral ratings to provide a comprehensive understanding of children's executive functions.
ABSTRACT
Autoimmune glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) astrocytopathy is a rare recently defined antibody-mediated encephalitis. Meningo-encephalomyelitis presentation is frequent with lymphocytic pleiocytosis in the cerebro-spinal fluid and brain MRI classically demonstrates in 50% of cases, a linear perivascular enhancement extending radially from the ventricles. Here, we describe 2 cases of pediatric autoimmune GFAP astrocytopathy with limbic encephalitis presentation and peculiar MRI characteristics: one with normal MRI and the second suggestive of Mild Encephalitis/Encephalopathy with reversible splenial lesion syndrome (MERS). These two cases illustrate that anti-GFAP antibodies should be sought in children presenting limbic encephalitis with a normal and/or MERS suggestive MRI, as treatment strategies may differ.
Subject(s)
Astrocytes/pathology , Autoimmune Diseases/immunology , Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein/immunology , Limbic Encephalitis/immunology , Adolescent , Astrocytes/immunology , Autoantibodies/immunology , Autoantigens/immunology , Autoimmune Diseases/pathology , Child , Female , Humans , Limbic Encephalitis/pathology , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , MaleABSTRACT
The neonatal arterial cerebral infarction is a clinical model for the study of development after early brain damage. The data from the AVCnn cohort, a French multicentre study, show that severe sequelae are rare while the least severe involve numerous areas of activity and concern the majority of children. The cosegregation of different forms of deficiency is significant.