[The efficacy of cerebrolysin in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders].

AIM: To evaluate clinical and neurophysiological changes in children with different variants of autism spectrum disorders during treatment with cerebrolysin.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty-three children with autism spectrum disorders, aged 4-6 years, were included in the study. To assess the degree of autism, the quantitative scale of assessing the severity of child autism CARS ('Childhood Autism Rating Scale') was used. A comparative analysis of the clinical picture of disease and data of the electroencephalographic examination in endogenous and exogenous (organic) variant of autism was made.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: In children with exogenous (organic) autism, the lower scores of autistic symptom on the CARS and a greater degree of functional immaturity of the cerebral cortex, according to electroencephalographic results, were found compared to children with endogenous autism. After treatment with cerebrolysin, 27 children (62.8%) showed signs of improvement. An improvement was noted in 13 children in with endogenous autism (56.5%) and in 14 children with organic autism (70.0%). CARS scores showed a more pronounced decrease in this indicator in a subgroup of children with organic autism.