ADHD/Abnormal EEG?

[rryan]

My son is 4 yrs old, and displays some strange behavior. He rolls his head to both sides and back and forth. He continues conversation during,& he does this while walking.He hurt himself by walking into something while rolling his head. We saw a ped, who ref us to a ped.neurologist.  He asked us to video our son and after seeing the video, ordered an EEG to rule out atonic seizures.  The result of the test was abnormal intermittent spiking in the frontal lobes.  The Dr wanted to prescribe anti-seizure meds but my husband and I wanted to research them first.  We saw another Ped/Neuro for a second opinion, and were told seizures were a possibility as were childhood tics and maybe Tourettes.  We taped my son again and took the video back to the first doctor, who watched it carefully and said he saw no LOC and was unwilling to treat my son for seizures at this time.  He stated my son most likely has ADHD and abnormal spikes in the frontal lobe have been noted in ADHD kids. He did not rule out tics or OCD but said time would tell with those.  He did not prescribe any meds at this time and did not schedule any appt for the future. Is abnormal EEG results a recognized part of ADHD?  We do not feel our son is having seziures, but we do not want to overlook anything.  He is a bright happy child with lots of energy, but no outbursts, he responds to discipline. He is aware of his 'head thing' as he calls it and is becoming self conscious of it.  He does it randomly through a day, and quite often. Any light you could shed on this would be appreciated.  Thank you in advance.
Heather

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Abnormal EEG's are not a typical part of the ADHD picture, but they do occur. As you've heard already, it can be difficult to pinpoint the nature of such behaviors as your son is displaying, chiefly due to the young age. Indeed, time will tell. Now, one possibility is to place your son on medication for a time, and see if the behavior improves, though it does seem very reasonable to hold treatment in abeyance for a time. Should Tourette Disorder be present, you'll see the development of other motor tics and some version of a verbal tic. At the moment, such involuntary movements are not evident. So, a diagnosis of Tourette is not sensible at this point.