Epilepsy and mental retardation: Study in a population of institutionalized patients

The authors studied a group of 52 patients affected at the same time by epilepsy and mental retardation; clinical, electroencephalographic and radiological aspects have been evaluated in order to find relationships between the two pathological states. The degree of mental retardation has been correlated to the aetiology of the illness, to the type and frequency of the epileptic seizures, to the severity of the epileptic syndromes, to the radiological and electroencephalographic reports; moreover, the presence of familial cases and the therapeutic response were investigated with respect to the different aetiological causes.