International Meeting for Autism Research: Association Between Inherited and Congenital Diseases and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Nation-Wide Register-Based Study

Association Between Inherited and Congenital Diseases and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Nation-Wide Register-Based Study

Saturday, May 22, 2010: 10:00 AM
Grand Ballroom CD Level 5 (Philadelphia Marriott Downtown)
9:45 AM
M. B. Lauritsen , Department B, Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov, Denmark
E. Parner , Department of Biostatistics, Institute of Public Health, University of Aarhus, DK-8000 Århus C, Denmark
Background: Some studies have been performed that studied the medical disorders seen in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Several diseases have been found to be associated with ASD based on case reports and clinical samples reporting associated medical disorders in patients with ASD, and association of some of these medical disorders have been confirmed in the few epidemiological studies performed. Some of the most common medical disorders include tuberous sclerosis, fragile X syndrome, Down syndrome, neurofibromatosis, and epilepsy.

Objectives: To study the association of ASD with inherited medical disorders including congenital disorders in terms of contributing to the common knowledge of associated medical disorders. This study may have implications for studying etiological factors of autism spectrum disorders.

Methods: A population-based cohort including a total of approximately 1.5 mio individuals born in Denmark 1980-2003 was identified. The cohort members were checked for medical disorders registered in the Danish National Patient Registry that were previously hypothesized to be associated with autism. Information on autism was obtained from the Danish Psychiatric Central Register which included analyses of both childhood autism and ASD. We considered both the medical disorder as the exposure and ASD as the outcome and vice versa ASD in the child as the exposure and the medical disorder as the outcome. Follow-up time began for all children from birth and continued until the diagnosis of ASD, death, or the end of follow-up, on December 31, 2008.

This study does not include infectious disorders seen in individuals with ASD.

Results: The preliminary findings in our study show association between ASD and congenital hypothyroidism, epilepsy, chromosomal abnormalities, and congenital anomalies.

Conclusions: Our study confirms previous findings of association of ASD with medical disorders like epilepsy and congenital hypothyroidism. We also contribute to the discussion about a possible association between autism and some inherited medical disorders and congenital malformations including certain chromosome abnormalities.

See more of: Comorbidities
See more of: Comorbidities
See more of: Clinical & Genetic Studies