Aims: To evaluate the presence of epileptiform discharges and the organisation of nocturnal sleep of autistic children without nocturnal polysomnographic epileptic seizures.
Subjects and methods: Cross section analysis.
Subjects: 21 boys and girls with autistic spectrum using DSM IV criteria between the ages of 4 and 12, compared with a control group made up of normal children of the same ages.
Methods: nocturnal polysomnogram with a minimum efficiency of 75%.
Analysis: t test to compare the cycles and phases of sleep with significance p< 0.05.
Results: SUBJECTS presented a maximum of four sleep cycles compared with five or six in the control subjects. From the first third of the night onwards there was an increase in the slowest phases. 66% presented epileptiform paroxysmal discharges, all of which originated in the anterior half of the brain.
Conclusion: Sleep is not destructured, but it is reduced in length, with epileptiform paroxysms of predominantly frontal origin. This could indicate that these two parameters are intrinsic to the autistic spectrum, as well as indicating a more focused origin of the generalised picture which is possibly closely related with the qualitative alteration of the social experiences of these children.