RESUMO
498 electroencephalograms (EEGs) were recorded from 195 diabetic children during a follow-up study. The children were divided into stable and labile groups according to diabetes control. The labile group was further subdivided into hypoglycaemic, ketoacidotic and mixed groups. In general it was found that the labile children had significantly more abnormal findings in their EEGs than the stable children, as expected. This applied particularly to generalized discharges with spikes and sharp waves or focal findings, but not to cases with only a diffuse-slowing. Nonstatistical differences in EEG abnormality were seen between the hypoglycaemic and ketoacidotic group--an unexpected finding. During the follow-up the labile group more often had an increasing EEG abnormality than the stable group. For those children who had an EEG abnormality but without an increasing tendency, there was no difference in the EEGs between the labile and stable children. It was concluded tht some of the EEG abnormalities are acquired, and apparently produced by a metabolic disturbance caused by diabetes. However, other causes may be of genetic or perinatal origin, or perhaps a combination of different causes. Because of the multifactorial aetiology of the abnormalities, EEG cannot at present be recommended for routine testing of the effects of metabolic disturbance in diabetics.
