Psychiatric Diagnoses Applied to Children and Adults with Hypothalamic Hamartomas and Refractory Epilepsy

Records of 57 children and adults with a history of HH and refractory epilepsy were reviewed. The psychiatric diagnoses and behavioral descriptions made by previous examiners were recorded. An attempt was made to relate those diagnostic observations to the patient’s level of estimated intelligence when examined. Most patients were described as having a psychiatric or behavioral disorder (47 of 57 patients; 82.5%). The problems were heterogeneous, ranging from mild mood disorders to psychosis; oppositional-defiant disorder and attentional deficit disorder were frequently mentioned. There was, however, no relationship between patients’ estimated level of intelligence and their psychiatric diagnosis, except in cases of mental retardation. Patients with estimated normal intelligence tended not to receive a psychiatric diagnosis (5 of 15 patients; 30%).