Epilepsy is one of the most prevalent chronic disorders of childhood which can threaten child development and mental health. Among cognitive disorders, dyscalculia is one of the most important. In this study, 39 children and adolescents with idiopathic epilepsy underwent clinical and neuropsychological assessment to determine the intellectual level, math skills, reading and writing performance and neuropsychological profile. It was observed that the mathematical ability was below schooling expectations in a higher frequency than expected. There were no significant differences in mathematical performance among groups divided by number of antiepileptic drugs used, duration of disease and types and frequency of seizures. There was a positive correlation with intelligence quotient and attentional and reading level. These results suggest the existence not only of dyscalculia, but the concurrence of attentional and reading problems for the poor mathematical performance in this population.Keywords: mathematical ability, dyscalculia, epilepsy, children, adolescents. RESUMOA epilepsia é uma das doenças crônicas mais comuns da infância que pode ameaçar o desenvolvimento infantil e saúde mental. Dos distúrbios cognitivos, a discalculia é um dos mais importantes. Neste estudo, 39 crianças e adolescentes com epilepsia idiopática, foram submetidos à avaliação clínica e neuropsicológica para determinar o nível intelectual, habilidade em matemática, leitura e escrita e perfil neuropsicológico. Observou-se que a habilidade em matemática ficou abaixo das expectativas de escolarização em uma frequência maior do que a esperada. Não houve diferenças significativas no desempenho matemático em relação ao número de drogas antiepilépticas utilizadas, duração da doença, tipo e frequência das crises. Houve uma correlação positiva com o quociente de inteligência e nível de atenção e leitura. Estes resultados sugerem a existência não só de discalculia, mas também a existência de problemas atencionais e de leitura que fatores causais para a dificuldade matemática apresentada nesta amostra.Palavras-chave: habilidade em matemática, discalculia, epilepsia, crianças, adolescentes.Epilepsy is a chronic neurologic disorder characterized by unprovoked recurrent seizures 1 . Estimation shows that around 5 and 10 million children worldwide have active epilepsy, representing about 25% of the global epilepsy population 2 . Forty percent of the people who develop epilepsy per year are younger than 15 years and more than 80% live in developing countries 2 . Population-based studies on childhood-onset epilepsy suggest an annual incidence of 61-124/ 100,000 in developing countries and 41-50/100,000 in developed countries 2 .Epilepsy is also related to behavioral, cognitive and psychiatric disorders, including autism and intellectual disability in 30% of patients 3,4 . There is a higher incidence of several cognitive disorders, in spite of normal intelligence,
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