Early Neurological Impairments in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Background:

As neurodevelopmental disorders, autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are often associated to early impairments of central nervous system. Perinatal anoxia and febrile convulsions are among the most frequent ones. In Tunisia, progress in medical care for delivery and early infancy led to a dramatic decrease of childhood death, but to an increasing rate of early neurological impairments

Objectives:

to estimate the frequency of early neurological impairements in children with ASD.

Methods:

Systematic records of medical data during delivery and early childhood for all the consecutive patients with ASD at the outpatient clinic of child psychiatry in the University Hospital of Monastir, from 2003-2008(N=211). Data were collected from the Child Health Notebook systematically filled during delivery and regular check-ups.

Results: 29% of ASD children experienced perinatal anoxia and 18% febrile seizures. Early neurological impairments were not necessarily correlated to severity of autism or to comorbidy with medical conditions.

Conclusions: Through this evident association, better prevention from obstetric complications and early childhood morbidity should participate to the prevention of some forms of ASD.