Table 1.
Summary of the results issued from the available studies.
| Author | Subjects Informations | Neuropsychological Domains Assessed (Tests Used) | Time of Assessment | Main Impaired Areas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [21] | 1 patient: 8 years old, F | General intelligence abilities (WISC IV) | First evaluation: 15 months after symptoms onset |
General intelligence (IQ = 78) |
| Second evaluation: not performed | / | |||
| [31] | 10 prospectivelly recruited patients Age range 3–17 years (at symptoms onset) F: 5; M: 5 |
-General intelligence abilities (GMDS 2–8; WPPSI III; WISC III and IV; WAIS-R; Leiter-R) -Receptive and expressive language: naming tests (BVN 5–11, BVN 12–18); verbal comprehension (Token Test for Children, 2nd edn; Test for Reception of Grammar); phonemic and semantic verbal fluency (BVN 5–11, BVN 12–18) -Selective and sustained attention (Barrage Task; Bell test and Coding—a Wechsler subtest) -Planning (Tower of London and Block Design—a Wechsler subtest) -Short-term verbal memory (Digit Span—a Wechsler subtest) and short-term visuo-spatial memory (Corsi’s Block Tapping Test Forward-BVN 5-11, BVN 12-18) -Visual-motor integration (Copying Form Test of Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration, and Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure test) |
First evaluation: a median of 3 months after symptoms onset (range 1–12 months) |
General intelligence (IQ < 85 in 6 patients) Language: naming (4 patients); verbal comprehension (4 patient); Semantic verbal fluency (5 patients); Phonemic verbal fluency (4 patients) Attention: Sustained attention (3 children), selective attention (3 patients), conding (5 patients) Planning: below the normal range in 5 patients Memory: Short-term verbal memory (8 patients), Short-term visuo-spatial memory (2 patients) Visual-motor integration (5 patients) |
| Second evaluation: a median of 27 months after symptoms onset (range 12–60 months) |
Language: naming skills (1 patient), phonemic verbal fluency (2 patients) Attention: Sustained attention (2 children), selective attention (1 patient), conding (3 patients) Planning: below the normal range in 4 patients Memory: short-term verbal memory (1 patient), short-term visuo-spatial memory (1 patient) |
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| 3 retrospectively recruited patients Age range: 7–13 years (at symptoms onset) F:3; M:0 |
One evaluation: range 31-112 months after symptoms onset |
General intelligence (IQ < 85 in 1 patient) Language: phonemic verbal fluency 1 patient) Attention: Sustained attention (1 children), conding (2 patients) Planning: difficulties in 2 patients Memory: short-term verbal (2) and visuo-spatial memory (1 patient) Visual-motor integration difficulties in 2 patients |
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| [37] | Patient 1: F Age at symptoms onset: 4 years Age of assessment: 4 years and 10 months Patient 2: M Age at symptoms onset: 3 years and 8 months Age of assessment: 5 years and 5 months |
-General intelligence abilities (GMDS 2–8) -Receptive and expressive language (Test for Reception of Grammar—BVN 5–11; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test; Naming Test—BVN 5–1; Fluency-5–11) -Selective and sustained attention (Bell Test) -Executive functions (Tower of London) -Visual and verbal memory (Corsi’s Block Tapping Test Forward; Digit Span Forward; Luria memory words test—BVN 5–11) -Visual-motor integration (Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration) |
First evaluation Patients 1: 10 months after symptoms onset Patients 2: two years after symptoms onset |
-IQ: 85 in patient 1 and 65 in patient 2 -Language: activation and integration of semantic information (significant deficit in the rapid naming test) -Attention: selective and prolonged -Problem-solving tasks and thinking flexibility -Verbal fluency (intrusions and perseverations at switching and clustering semantic tasks) -Spatial visuoconstructive abilities were impaired in patient 2 |
| Second evaluation Patient 1: Twenty-two months after symtoms onset Patient 2: not performed (he was followed-up at the same hospital where he was first admitted |
In patient 1, the authors described a normalization of the IQ (96) and improvements in problem-solving tasks and in the selective/prolonged attention, clustering semantic tasks and switching. | |||
| [37] | Patient 1: 17 years old, F | -General intelligence abilities (WAIS-IV) -Language (Multilingual Aphasia Examination; Boston Naming Test; Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System verbal fluency) -Attention (Continuous Performance Test—II;) -Executive functions (Trail Making test; Tower of London; Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System- Trail making test; Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System—color–word interference; Symbol Digit Modalities—oral; stroop test; Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test) -Memory (Boston naming test; California Verbal Learning Test—II; Wechsler Memory Scale—IV Logical Memory; WMS—IV Visual Reproduction; Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test; Hopkins Verbal Learning Test) -Motor/sensory (Grooved Pegboard) -Visual-spatial (Developmental Test of Visual Perception; Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration; Judgment of Line Orientation; clock drawing) |
Three evaluations (4-24 months) Acute phase (4–6 weeks since symptoms onset) Post acute phase (2–6 months since symptoms onset) Outcome (6–24 months since symptoms onset) |
Acute phase: attention; cognitive flexibility; visual-motor construction |
| Post-acute phase: mild weaknesses in verbal memory and more substantial impairment in problem-solving and language (e.g., confrontational naming and comprehension of instructions) | ||||
| Outcome: problem-solving, confrontational naming, comprehension of instructions, and verbal recognition, were still below average (borderline to impaired ranges). | ||||
| Patient 2: 16 years old, F | Acute phase: she was very disoriented and appeared to be in a state of delirium | |||
| Outcome: weaknesses in executive functioning, particularly inhibition and working memory, retrieval-based verbal memory, confrontational naming, and fine motor dexterity bilaterally (low average to borderline ranges). | ||||
| Patient 3: 18 years old, F | Acute phase: widespread and significant cognitive deficits across all assessed domains (borderline to severely impaired ranges) | |||
| Post-acute phase: impairments in many areas of speech (e.g., comprehension, word finding, fluency, and/or prosody, neologisms); attention and thought processes were grossly impaired | ||||
| Outcome: weakness (low average to severely impaired ranges) in language skills (naming, repetition, fluency, and speeded reading) and mild but variable weakness with speeded responding | ||||
| [31] | 6 patients Age range (at evaluation): 6,11–13,6 years F: 4; M:2 |
-Mini mental state pediatric examination (acute phase, that precluded a full neuropsychological evaluation; before discharge) -General intelligence abilities/reasoning (Raven Colored Matrices; GMDS 2-8) -Language: naming and semantic fluency (BVN 5–11 and BVN 12–18) -Attention and speed: selective and sustained visual attention (Bell Test; Trial Making Test A) -Executive functions: phonemic fluency (BVN 5–11 and BVN 12–18); working memory (backward Digit Span Test—BVN 5–11 and BVN 12–18); frontal lobe functioning (Frontal Assessment Battery); shifting (Trial Making Test B) -Short-term verbal and visual-spatial memory memory (Digit Span Test and the Corsi’s Block Tapping Test—BVN 5–11 and BVN 12–18); verbal learning and long term verbal memory (word’s list and list recall—BVN 5–11 and BVN 12–18) -Visual motor integrations (Coding test of the WISC-IV; Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test) |
First evaluation: one month after discharge |
Reasoning: below the normal range in 1 patient Attention (3/5 patients) Executive functions (5/5 children) Visual-motor abilities, implicating executive involvement (2/5 patients) |
| Second evaluation: 35 months after discharge (range 24–48 months) |
Attention (1/4 of the patients) Executive functions (2/4 patients) Visual-motor abilities in 2/4 children |
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| 1 children: 15 months old, M | Four evaluations: from 1 month to 27 months after discharge |
The child gradually deteriorated in all scales: Global score Locomotor Personal/social Eye/hand coordination Performance and, in particular Hearing/language |
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| [40] | 16 patients underwent a full neuropsychological evaluation Age range of disease onset: 3–17 years Age range at the assessment: 6–25 years F:15; M: 1 |
-Language: words comprehension and word findings (Boston Naming Test; Token Test) -Attention: reaction time, sustained attention, speed (CANTAB; Dutch Dot Cancellation Test—Bourdon–Vos) -Executive functioning: Intra-Extra Dimensional Set Shift, Spatial Span, Stockings of Cambridge (all CANTAB); Word Generation (NEPSY); Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF—Self-Report and BRIEF—Adult Questionnaire) -Visual and verbal memory (Paired Associated Learning (CANTAB), Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test) -Quality of life: Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL Self-Report and PedsQL Parent Proxy-Report) -Fatigue: PedsQL Multidimensional Fatigue Scale questionnaire (PedsQL-MFS Self-Report and PedsQL-MFS Parent Proxy-Report) |
One evaluation: a median of 31 months after symptoms onset (interquartile range 15–49, range 5–91) |
Attention: sustained attention; speed Memory: long-term verbal and visual memory Language: naming High fatigue and low QoL Correlation between fatigue and QoL. No correlations between QoL, fatigue, sustained attention and long-term verbal memory |
WISC III, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-third edition; WISC IV, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-fourth Edition; WPPSI III, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence—third edition; WAIS-R, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Revised; GMDS 2–8, Griffiths Mental Development Scales 2–8 years; Batteria di valutazione neuropsicologica per l’età evolutiva 5–11 years; Batteria di valutazione neuropsicologica per l’età evolutiva 12–18 years; CANTAB, Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery; NEPSY, Developmental NEuroPSYchological Assessment Battery.