Event-related potentials (P300) and neuropsychological assessment in boys exhibiting Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

OBJECTIVE To examine auditory cognitive evoked potentials (P300 potentials) and neuropsychological dysfunction in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). METHOD P300 potentials and neuropsychological test results were obtained from 16 healthy control boys and 20 DMD patients. Full Intelligence Quotients (IQ) were estimated for patients and control group. Mean age was 9.5 years in the DMD patient group, and 10 years in the control group (p>0.05). RESULTS The mean IQ values were 64.35 in the DMD patients and 82.68 in the control group (p=0.01). Mean P300 values were 347.6 in the DMD group and 337.4 in the control group (p=0.14). There was no significant correlation between parameters in each group. CONCLUSION DMD patients showed a poor performance as evaluated by P300 potential compared to the control group, although the difference was not statistically significant. Systematic alterations in neuropsychological test results were found, the differences paralleling those detected in IQ.