Neuropsychological and Social Characteristics of a 7 Year Old Child with Hypomelanosis of Ito Followed for 11 Years

ABSTRACT

Hypomelanosis of Ito (HI) is a neurocutaneous disorder associated with central nervous system abnormalities, including speech delay and intellectual disability. The long term neuropsychological and social characteristics of these children are unknown. Neuropsychological observations and parental reports were obtained yearly on a child with HI from ages 7 to 18 years. Serial measures of intelligence revealed stable verbal and perceptual reasoning scores with later improvements in working memory and processing speed performance. Speech articulation improved at age 12, as did the speed of right-hand finger tapping. Improved social integration occurred, but anxiety persisted throughout this developmental period.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics Statement

This case report involved a human subject and written informed consent to publish this case report was provided by both the patient’s parents and the patient (who is now 19 years of age) in occurrence with notifying and following the informed consent requirements of the Institutional Review Board.

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Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.