Abstract

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder with a range of clinical presentations, from mild to severe, that is now classified in a broader class of disease called "autism spectrum disorders'' (ASD). The aim of this study was to investigate Brain MRI findings in children (2-4 years old) with autism. The sample of the study included 40 autistic children aged 2 to 4 years whose disease was confirmed by a fellow psychiatrist based on the diagnostic criteria of autism spectrum disorders DSM IV-R. Having explained the study to parents and after obtaining their consent, a questionnaire was completed and a three-dimensional brain MRI was performed for each patient in the radiology department of Ghaem or Imam Reza hospitals. From among the 40 patients, 25 patients had a history of convulsion. Among the other patients, 4 patients (10) suffered from simple febrile convulsion (simple FC), 2 cases from complex febrile convulsion (complex FC), 6 cases (15) from TCG and 3 (7.5) from Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS). Of the 15 patients with a history of convulsion disorders, 5 patients (12.5) used phenobarbital, 4 patients (10) took valproate and 2 patients (5) were treated with multi-drug regimen. Although, we did not measure white matter connections, lesions in such neuroanatomic pathways may be causal factors of behavioral and emotional dysfunctions in autistic patients. Finally, it is also important to understand how WMH severity changes over time.