PANDAS | |
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Streptococcus pyogenes (stained red), a common group A streptococcal bacterium. PANDAS is speculated to be an autoimmune condition in which the body's own antibodies to streptococci attack the basal ganglion cells of the brain, by a concept known as molecular mimicry. | |
Specialty | Neurology, Psychiatry |
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Pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) is a controversial [1] [2] [3] [4] hypothetical diagnosis for a subset of children with rapid onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or tic disorders. [5] Symptoms are proposed to be caused by group A streptococcal (GAS), and more specifically, group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GABHS) infections. [5] OCD and tic disorders are hypothesized to arise in a subset of children as a result of a post-streptococcal autoimmune process. [6] [7] [8] The proposed link between infection and these disorders is that an autoimmune reaction to infection produces antibodies that interfere with basal ganglia function, causing symptom exacerbations, and this autoimmune response results in a broad range of neuropsychiatric symptoms. [5]
The PANDAS hypothesis, first described in 1998, was based on observations in clinical case studies by Susan Swedo et al at the US National Institute of Mental Health and in subsequent clinical trials where children appeared to have dramatic and sudden OCD exacerbations and tic disorders following infections. [9] Whether PANDAS was a distinct entity differing from other cases of tic disorders or OCD is debated. [2] [10] [11] As the PANDAS hypothesis was unconfirmed and unsupported by data, a new definition was proposed by Swedo and colleagues in 2012. [12] In addition to the 2012 broader pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS), two other categories have been proposed: childhood acute neuropsychiatric symptoms (CANS) and pediatric infection-triggered autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders (PITAND). [5] The CANS/PANS hypotheses include different possible mechanisms underlying acute-onset neuropsychiatric conditions, but do not exclude GAS infections as a cause in a subset of individuals. [7] [8] PANDAS, PANS and CANS are the focus of clinical and laboratory research but remain unproven. [12] [6] [7] [8]
There is no diagnostic test to accurately confirm PANDAS; [13] the diagnostic criteria are unevenly applied and the conditions may be overdiagnosed. [12] Treatment for children suspected of PANDAS is generally the same as the standard treatments for Tourette syndrome (TS) and OCD. [12] There is insufficient evidence or consensus to support treatment, although experimental treatments are sometimes used, [5] and adverse effects from unproven treatments are expected. [14] The media and the internet have contributed to an ongoing PANDAS controversy, [15] [16] with reports of the difficulties of families who believe their children have PANDAS or PANS. [12] Attempts to influence public policy have been advanced by advocacy networks. [12]
The children originally described by Susan Swedo et al. (1998) [17] usually had an abrupt onset of symptoms, including motor or vocal tics, obsessions, or compulsions. [18] [19] In addition to an obsessive–compulsive or tic disorder diagnosis, children may have other symptoms associated with exacerbations such as emotional lability, enuresis, anxiety, and deterioration in handwriting. [19] There may be periods of remission. [20] In the PANDAS model, this abrupt onset is thought to be preceded by a strep throat infection. As the clinical spectrum of PANDAS appears to resemble that of Tourette syndrome (TS or TD, for Tourette's disorder), some researchers hypothesized that PANDAS and TS may be associated; this idea is challenged and a focus for research. [10] [21] [22] [23]
Pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) [12] [5] is a hypothesized disorder characterized by the sudden onset of OCD symptoms or eating restrictions, concomitant with acute behavioral deterioration or severe neuropsychiatric symptoms including sleep, emotional and behavioral disturbances, regression in school performance, or motor and sensory issues. [12] [5] PANS eliminated tic disorders as a primary criterion and placed more emphasis on acute-onset OCD, while allowing for causes other than streptococcal infection. Since PANS encompasses a broader group than PANDAS, children may be more likely to be labeled with PANS and receive testing and treatments promoted for PANDAS that lack scientific support. [12]
PANDAS is hypothesized to be an autoimmune disorder that results in a variable combination of tics, obsessions, compulsions, and other symptoms with sudden or abrupt onset that may be severe enough to qualify for diagnoses such as chronic tic disorder, OCD, and TS. [5] [18] As of 2024, the autoimmune hypothesis of PANDAS is controversial and disputed. [1] [4] [12] [9] [25] [26]
PANS, CANS and PITANDs are also hypothesized to be autoimmune disorders. [5]
The PANDAS diagnosis and the hypothesis that symptoms in this subgroup of patients are caused by infection are disputed and unconfirmed. [12] [14] [21] [23] The cause is thought to be akin to that of Sydenham's chorea (SC), which is known to result from childhood group A streptococcal (GAS) infection leading to the autoimmune disorder rheumatic fever of which SC is one manifestation. Like SC, PANDAS is thought to involve autoimmunity to the brain's basal ganglia. [18] [a]
To establish that a disorder is an autoimmune disorder, the Witebsky criteria require
Results of studies investigating an autoimmune cause that meet Witebsky's criteria are inconsistent, controversial, and subject to methodological limitations. [10]
To show that a microorganism causes a disorder, the Koch postulates would require one show that the organism is present in all cases of the disorder, that the organism can be extracted from those with the disorder and be cultured, that transferring the organism into healthy subjects causes the disorder, and the organism can be re-isolated from the infected party. [27] Giavanonni notes that the Koch postulates are not useful in substantiating PANDAS a post-infectious disorder because the organism may no longer be present when symptoms emerge, multiple organisms may cause the symptoms, and the symptoms may be a rare reaction to a common pathogen. [27]
Some studies support acute exacerbations associated with streptococcal infections among clinically defined PANDAS subjects; others studies have found no association between abrupt onset or exacerbation with infection. [12] [19] The PANS hypothesis, then, expands the causes beyond streptococcal infection and postulates that the cause can be genetic, metabolic, or infectious. [9]
Among children with PANS or PANDAS, studies are inconsistent, and the hypothesis that antibodies trigger symptoms is unproven; some studies showed antibodies in children with PANS/PANDAS, but those results were not replicated in other studies. [12] A large multicenter study (EMTICS—European Multicentre Tics in Children Studies) showed no evidence in children with chronic tic disorders of strep infections leading to tic exacerbation, [9] [13] or specific antibodies in children with tics, and a study of the cerebrospinal fluid of adults with TS similarly found no specific antibodies. [13] The antibodies that were found by one group were collectively named the "Cunningham Panel"; subsequent independent testing showed this panel of antibodies did not distinguish between children with and without PANS, and its reliability is unproven. [12] [28] A consensus statement from the British Paediatric Neurology Association (BPNA), states that a "causal infection (rather than coincidental infection) or an inflammatory or autoimmune pathogenesis" has not been confirmed, and that "no consistent biomarkers have been identified that accurately diagnose PANDAS or are reliably associated with brain inflammation". [9] [6]
The mechanism is hypothesized to be similar to that of rheumatic fever, an autoimmune disorder triggered by streptococcal infections, where antibodies attack the brain and cause neuropsychiatric conditions. [5] [19] The molecular mimicry hypothesis is a proposed mechanism for PANDAS: [13] this hypothesis is that antigens on the cell wall of the streptococcal bacteria are similar in some way to the proteins of the heart valve, joints, or brain. Because the antibodies set off an immune reaction which damages those tissues, the child with rheumatic fever can develop Sydenham's. [29] In a typical bacterial infection, the body produces antibodies against the invading bacteria, and the antibodies help eliminate the bacteria from the body. In some rheumatic fever patients, autoantibodies may attack heart tissue, leading to carditis, or cross-react with joints, leading to arthritis. [20] In PANDAS, it is believed that tics and OCD are produced in a similar manner. One part of the brain that may be affected in PANDAS is the basal ganglia, which is believed to be responsible for movement and behavior. It is thought that similar to Sydenham's, the antibodies cross-react with neuronal brain tissue in the basal ganglia to cause the tics and OCD that characterize PANDAS. [13] [19] [24]
Whether the group of patients diagnosed with PANDAS have developed tics and OCD through a different mechanism (pathophysiology) than seen in other people diagnosed with TS is unclear. [11] [30] [31] [32] Studies of this hypothesis are inconsistent: the strongest supportive evidence comes from a controlled study of 144 children (Mell et al., 2005), but prospective longitudinal studies have not produced conclusive results, [31] and other studies do not support the hypothesis. [13]
Neither PANDAS nor PANS are listed as a diagnosis in the 2013 fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM 5) [b] or confirmed as distinct disorders. [9] [10] [34] [35] PANDAS is mentioned in the World Health Organization's ICD-11, effective in 2022, under autoimmune central nervous system disorders, but diagnostic criteria are not defined and no specific code for PANS or PANDAS is given. [9] [36] The 2021 European clinical guidelines developed by the European Society for the Study of Tourette syndrome (ESSTS) did not support the additions made to ICD-11. [37]
Swedo et al in their 1998 paper proposed five diagnostic criteria for PANDAS. [20] According to Lombroso and Scahill (2008), those criteria were: "(1) the presence of a tic disorder and/or OCD consistent with DSM-IV; (2) prepubertal onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms; (3) a history of a sudden onset of symptoms and/or an episodic course with abrupt symptom exacerbation interspersed with periods of partial or complete remission; (4) evidence of a temporal association between onset or exacerbation of symptoms and a prior streptococcal infection; and (5) adventitious movements (e.g., motoric hyperactivity and choreiform movements) during symptom exacerbation". [20]
The proposed PANS criteria call for abrupt onset of OCD (severe enough to warrant a DSM diagnosis) or restricted food intake, along with severe and acute neuropsychiatric symptoms from at least two of the following: anxiety, emotional lability or depression, irritability or oppositional behaviors, developmental regression, academic deterioration, sensory or motor difficulties, or sleep or urinary disturbances. The symptoms should not be better explained by another disorder, such as Syndenham chorea or Tourette syndrome. [12] The authors stated that all other causes must be excluded (diagnosis of exclusion) for PANS to be considered. [9]
There is no diagnostic test to accurately confirm PANDAS. [13] The diagnostic criteria of all the proposed conditions (PANDAS, PITANDs, CANS and PANS) are based on symptoms and presentation, rather than on signs of autoimmunity. [5] A commercial tool known as the "Cunningham Panel" and marketed by Moleculera Labs—intended to diagnose PANDAS and PANS based on assays of antibodies—did not distinguish between children with and without PANS when independently tested. [12] [13] [c]
PANDAS may be overdiagnosed: the diagnostic criteria are unevenly applied and a presumed diagnosis may be conferred in "children in whom immune-mediated symptoms are unlikely", [12] according to Wilbur et al (2019). Most patients diagnosed with PANDAS by community physicians did not meet the criteria when examined by specialists, suggesting the PANDAS diagnosis is conferred by community physicians without conclusive evidence. [40] [13] [31]
Because symptoms overlap with many other psychiatric conditions, differential diagnosis is challenging. [5] There are several difficulties in distinguishing PANDAS from TS. The two have a similar onset and waxing and waning course, and the sudden onset or exacerbation in tics hypothesized in PANDAS is not uncommon in TS. There is a higher rate of OCD and TS among relatives of children with PANDAS, and those children often have tics preceding a PANDAS diagnosis or may be predisposed to tic disorders; what appears to be a dramatic onset due to GAS infection "may be the natural course of tic disorders", according to Ueda and Black (2021). [13]
Treatment for children suspected of PANDAS is generally the same as the standard treatments for TS and OCD. [12] [15] [41] These include cognitive behavioral therapy and medications to treat OCD such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs); [12] and "conventional therapy for tics". [41]
When individuals have "persistent or disabling symptoms", Wilbur (2019) et al recommend referral to specialists, treatment of identified acute streptococcal infections according to established guidelines, and immunotherapy only in clinical trials. [12]
The use of psychotropic medications for PANS/PANDAS is widespread, although controlled trials were lacking as of 2019 [update] . [12]
Prophylactic antibiotic treatments for tics and OCD are experimental [40] and their use is challenged; [31] overdiagnosis of PANDAS may have led to overuse of antibiotics to treat tics or OCD in the absence of active infection. [31] Evidence for antibiotic treatment is inconclusive for PANS, PANDAS, PITAND and CANS. [5] Murphy, Kurlan and Leckman (2010) said, "The use of prophylactic antibiotics to treat PANDAS has become widespread in the community, although the evidence supporting their use is equivocal." [15]
As of 2019 [update] , there is no evidence supporting the use rituximab or mycophenolate mofetil for treating PANDAS/PANS. [12]
There is inconclusive evidence supporting immunomodulatory therapies (intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) or therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) [19] ) for PANS and PANDAS; most studies have methodological issues. [5] IVIG was perceived as effective based on a self-reported survey. [5] Kalra and Swedo wrote in 2009, "Because IVIG and plasma exchange both carry a substantial risk of adverse effects, use of these modalities should be reserved for children with particularly severe symptoms and a clear-cut PANDAS presentation." [32]
Studies of experimental treatments for PANS and PANDAS (IVIG, TPE, antibiotics, tonsillectomy, corticosteroids and NSAIDs) are "few and in general have moderate or high risk of bias", according to a Sigra et al review published in 2018, which states: [5]
Nevertheless, there are 3 recent papers proposing guidelines for how to treat PANDAS and PANS using psychiatric and behavioral interventions (Thienemann et al., 2017), immunomodulatory therapies (Frankovich et al., 2017) and antibiotics (Cooperstock et al., 2017). These guidelines are proposed by a consortium of clinicians and researchers ... for children who fulfill criteria for PANDAS or PANS. We believe that our results are in line with the proposed guidelines, and that the lack of evidence for treatment is based not on the inefficacy of the treatments, but on lack of systematic research.
— Sigra et al (2018) [5]
Following a 2014 meeting in the US of Swedo and physicians from Stanford University, [9] treatment guidelines for PANS and PANDAS were published in 2017, in three parts. [42] [43] [44] In a 2018 review, Sigra et al said of the 2017 guidelines that treatment consensus was lacking and that results were inconclusive. [5] A 2019 review by Wilbur et al said that evidence for treatment of children with PANDAS/PANS is lacking, and remission rates in symptoms after treatment "may represent the natural history of [non-PANDAS pediatric OCD] cases rather than true treatment effect". [12] The Wilbur et al 2019 review found no evidence to support tonsillectomy or prophylactic antibiotics, recommended standard approved therapies known to be effective for OCD, and cautioned against immunomodulatory therapies except in clinical trials. [12] Gilbert (2019) stated: "Skeptics have concluded that treatment studies do not support antibiotic or immunomodulatory interventions for PANDAS. Advocates published treatment guidelines supporting both." [35] Gilbert adds that "... if PANS/PANDAS is really common, the best approach will have to be large, randomized, placebo-controlled trials. In addition, it would behoove skeptics and advocates to collaborate in pursuing both good science and sound patient care, while eschewing pseudoscientific approaches and calling out profit-seeking behaviors such as cash-pay clinics, Internet diagnoses, and expert witness testimony." [35]
The guideline status in the UK is similar. The PANDAS and PANS Physicians Network published guidelines in 2018 on a private healthcare platform, e-hospital. [45] In April 2021, the British Paediatric Neurology Association (BPNA) issued a consensus statement with the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Faculty of the Royal College of Psychiatrists stating that there is an absence of evidence for recommending immunomodulatory or prophylactic antibiotic treatments. [9] This consensus statement was issued in place of a guideline as the authors stated that there was insufficient evidence for developing a typical guideline. [9] It noted no previous guidelines for PANDAS existed or had been endorsed by official bodies in the UK, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and that the 2018 guidelines available at a PANDAS/PANS UK charity website and the private platform (e-hospital) had been developed independently of the BPNA. [9]
Similarly, the April 2021 treatment guidelines for Nordic countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK) do not recommend tonsillectomy, antibiotic prophylaxis, or experimental immunomodulatory therapies outside of a specialist setting. [46] A Swedish review published in 2021 found a moderate potential for adverse effects, and a "very low certainty of evidence of beneficial effects", for treating individuals meeting the research definition of PANS with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medications, or immunomodulatory agents. [14] The Swedish review states that, "some researchers in the United States, on the basis of an assumption of an underlying neuroinflammation, recommend anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics and immunomodulatory treatment in the clinical management of these patients, Swedish national guidelines imply that these treatments shall only be provided within the framework of research and development". [14]
The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) 2011 guidelines say there are "inadequate data to determine the efficacy of plasmapheresis" and "insufficient evidence to support or refute the use of plasmapheresis", for treating OCD and tics "in the setting of PANDAS". [22] The Medical Advisory Board of the Tourette Syndrome Association (now the Tourette Association of America) said in 2006, [47] and reiterated in 2021: [13] [48]
"Treatment with antibiotics should not be initiated without clinical evidence of infection and a positive throat culture. Experimental treatments based on the autoimmune theory, such as plasma exchange, immunoglobulin therapy, or prophylactic antibiotic treatment, should not be undertaken outside of formal clinical trials."
The American Heart Association's 2009 guidelines state that they do "not recommend routine laboratory testing for GAS to diagnose, long-term antistreptococcal prophylaxis to prevent, or immunoregulatory therapy (such as intravenous immunoglobulin, plasma exchange) to treat exacerbations of this disorder". [49]
In Lyme disease guidelines released in 2020, experts from medical societies including the AAN, American College of Rheumatology, Infectious Diseases Society of America, and American Academy of Pediatrics agreed that "there are no data to support a causal relationship between tick-borne infections and childhood developmental delay or behavioral disorders (such as attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, [PANDAS], learning disabilities, or psychiatric disorders)" [50] Some advocates had claimed that Lyme disease caused PANDAS, contrary to evidence. [50] [51]
The debate surrounding the PANDAS hypothesis has societal implications; the media and the Internet have played a role in the PANDAS controversy. [15] [16] The news and other media report the difficulties of families who believe their children have PANDAS or PANS. [12] Attempts to influence public policy have been advanced by advocacy networks such as the USA-based PANDAS Network and Canadian PANDASHELP. [12]
Swerdlow (2005) summarized the societal implications of the hypothesis, and the role of the Internet in the debate surrounding the PANDAS hypothesis:
... perhaps the most controversial putative TS trigger is exposure to streptococcal infections. The ubiquity of strep throats, the tremendous societal implications of over-treatment (e.g., antibiotic resistance or immunosuppressant side effects) versus medical implications of under-treatment (e.g., potentially irreversible autoimmune neurologic injury) are serious matters. With the level of desperation among Internet-armed parents, this controversy has sparked contentious disagreements, too often lacking both objectivity and civility. [16]
Murphy, Kurlan and Leckman (2010) discussed the influence of the media and the Internet in a paper that proposed a "way forward" with the "group of disorders collectively described as PANDAS":
Of concern, public awareness has outpaced our scientific knowledge base, with multiple magazine and newspaper articles and Internet chat rooms calling this issue to the public's attention. Compared with ~ 200 reports listed on Medline—many involving a single patient, and others reporting the same patients in different papers, with most of these reporting on subjects who do not meet the current PANDAS criteria—there are over 100,000 sites on the Internet where the possible Streptococcus–OCD–TD relationship is discussed. This gap between public interest in PANDAS and conclusive evidence supporting this link calls for increased scientific attention to the relationship between GAS and OCD/tics, particularly examining basic underlying cellular and immune mechanisms. [15]
PANDAS was first described in 1998 [5] by Susan Swedo and a group of researchers [9] at the US National Institute of Mental Health (a branch of the NIH). [18] A similar clinical picture was proposed for PITANDs (pediatric infection-triggered autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders) for those who met the Swedo et al criteria for PANDAS, but with symptoms triggered by an infection other than GAS. [5]
Michael Pichichero (2009) noted several reasons that PANDAS had not been validated as a disease classification. Its proposed age of onset and clinical features reflected a particular group of patients chosen for research studies, with no systematic studies of the possible relationship of GAS to other neurologic symptoms. There was dispute over whether its symptom of choreiform movements was distinct from the similar movements of SC. It was not known whether the pattern of abrupt onset was specific to PANDAS. Finally, there was controversy over whether a temporal relationship between GAS infections and PANDAS symptoms existed. [18]
In light of controversies in establishing a basis for the hypothesis, a 2010 paper calling for "a way forward", Murphy, Kurlan and Leckman said: "It is time for the National Institutes of Health, in combination with advocacy and professional organizations, to convene a panel of experts not to debate the current data, but to chart a way forward. For now we have only to offer our standard therapies in treating OCD and tics, but one day we may have evidence that also allows us to add antibiotics or other immune-specific treatments to our armamentarium." [15] A 2011 paper by Singer proposed CANS, childhood acute neuropsychiatric symptoms—a new, "broader concept" in favor or requiring only acute-onset. [52] CANS removes the requirement for GAS infection, [5] allowing for multiple causes, which Singer proposed because of the "inconclusive and conflicting scientific support" for PANDAS, including "strong evidence suggesting the absence of an important role for GABHS, a failure to apply published [PANDAS] criteria, and a lack of scientific support for proposed therapies". [52]
By 2012, with limitations of the PANDAS hypothesis published, the broader pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) was proposed (also by Swedo and colleagues, following a conference [9] ) to create a better defined condition for research purposes. [12] It describes individuals with eating disorders or rapid onset of OCD along with other neuropsychiatric symptoms, [5] and postulates that the causes can be other than GAS. [9] Whether the PANS hypothesis defines a distinct entity is unclear as of 2019 [update] . [12]
Swedo retired from the NIH in 2019, but serves on the scientific advisory board of the PANDAS Physician Network. [51] As of 2020, the NIH information pages (which Swedo helped write) do not mention the studies that do not support the PANDAS hypothesis. [51]
Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Common tics are blinking, coughing, throat clearing, sniffing, and facial movements. These are typically preceded by an unwanted urge or sensation in the affected muscles known as a premonitory urge, can sometimes be suppressed temporarily, and characteristically change in location, strength, and frequency. Tourette's is at the more severe end of a spectrum of tic disorders. The tics often go unnoticed by casual observers.
Group A streptococcal infections are a number of infections with Streptococcus pyogenes, a group A streptococcus (GAS). S. pyogenes is a species of beta-hemolytic Gram-positive bacteria that is responsible for a wide range of infections that are mostly common and fairly mild. If the bacteria enters the bloodstream, the infection can become severe and life-threatening, and is called an invasive GAS (iGAS).
Streptococcal pharyngitis, also known as streptococcal sore throat, is pharyngitis caused by Streptococcus pyogenes, a gram-positive, group A streptococcus. Common symptoms include fever, sore throat, red tonsils, and enlarged lymph nodes in the front of the neck. A headache and nausea or vomiting may also occur. Some develop a sandpaper-like rash which is known as scarlet fever. Symptoms typically begin one to three days after exposure and last seven to ten days.
Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful joints, involuntary muscle movements, and occasionally a characteristic non-itchy rash known as erythema marginatum. The heart is involved in about half of the cases. Damage to the heart valves, known as rheumatic heart disease (RHD), usually occurs after repeated attacks but can sometimes occur after one. The damaged valves may result in heart failure, atrial fibrillation and infection of the valves.
A tic is a sudden and repetitive motor movement or vocalization that is not rhythmic and involves discrete muscle groups. It is typically brief and may resemble a normal behavioral characteristic or gesture.
Tonsillitis is inflammation of the tonsils in the upper part of the throat. It can be acute or chronic. Acute tonsillitis typically has a rapid onset. Symptoms may include sore throat, fever, enlargement of the tonsils, trouble swallowing, and enlarged lymph nodes around the neck. Complications include peritonsillar abscess (quinsy).
Sydenham's chorea, also known as rheumatic chorea, is a disorder characterized by rapid, uncoordinated jerking movements primarily affecting the face, hands and feet. Sydenham's chorea is an autoimmune disease that results from childhood infection with Group A beta-haemolytic Streptococcus. It is reported to occur in 20–30% of people with acute rheumatic fever and is one of the major criteria for it, although it sometimes occurs in isolation. The disease occurs typically a few weeks, but up to 6 months, after the acute infection, which may have been a simple sore throat (pharyngitis).
Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by the presence of motor and phonic tics. The management of Tourette syndrome has the goal of managing symptoms to achieve optimum functioning, rather than eliminating symptoms; not all persons with Tourette's require treatment, and there is no cure or universally effective medication. Explanation and reassurance alone are often sufficient treatment; education is an important part of any treatment plan.
Causes and origins of Tourette syndrome have not been fully elucidated. Tourette syndrome is an inherited neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by the presence of multiple motor tics and at least one phonic tic, which characteristically wax and wane. Tourette's syndrome occurs along a spectrum of tic disorders, which includes transient tics and chronic tics.
Acute proliferative glomerulonephritis is a disorder of the small blood vessels of the kidney. It is a common complication of bacterial infections, typically skin infection by Streptococcus bacteria types 12, 4 and 1 (impetigo) but also after streptococcal pharyngitis, for which it is also known as postinfectious glomerulonephritis (PIGN) or poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN). It can be a risk factor for future albuminuria. In adults, the signs and symptoms of infection may still be present at the time when the kidney problems develop, and the terms infection-related glomerulonephritis or bacterial infection-related glomerulonephritis are also used. Acute glomerulonephritis resulted in 19,000 deaths in 2013, down from 24,000 deaths in 1990 worldwide.
The obsessive–compulsive spectrum is a model of medical classification where various psychiatric, neurological and/or medical conditions are described as existing on a spectrum of conditions related to obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). "The disorders are thought to lie on a spectrum from impulsive to compulsive where impulsivity is said to persist due to deficits in the ability to inhibit repetitive behavior with known negative consequences, while compulsivity persists as a consequence of deficits in recognizing completion of tasks." OCD is a mental disorder characterized by obsessions and/or compulsions. An obsession is defined as "a recurring thought, image, or urge that the individual cannot control". Compulsion can be described as a "ritualistic behavior that the person feels compelled to perform". The model suggests that many conditions overlap with OCD in symptomatic profile, demographics, family history, neurobiology, comorbidity, clinical course and response to various pharmacotherapies. Conditions described as being on the spectrum are sometimes referred to as obsessive–compulsive spectrum disorders.
Tourette syndrome (TS) is an inherited neurological disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence, characterized by the presence of multiple physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic.
Mady Hornig is an American psychiatrist and an associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. A physician-scientist, her research involves clinical, epidemiological, and animal model research on autism and related neurodevelopmental conditions. She directs the clinical core of an international investigation of the role of Borna disease virus in human mental illness and participates as a key investigator for the Autism Birth Cohort (ABC) project, a large prospective epidemiological study, based in Norway, that is identifying how genes and timing interact with environmental agents preceding the onset of autism spectrum diagnoses. In 2006, she was appointed as guest professor at the school of basic medical science of Beijing University in Beijing, China.
Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental and behavioral disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts and feels the need to perform certain routines (compulsions) repeatedly to relieve the distress caused by the obsession, to the extent where it impairs general function.
Basal ganglia disease is a group of physical problems that occur when the group of nuclei in the brain known as the basal ganglia fail to properly suppress unwanted movements or to properly prime upper motor neuron circuits to initiate motor function. Research indicates that increased output of the basal ganglia inhibits thalamocortical projection neurons. Proper activation or deactivation of these neurons is an integral component for proper movement. If something causes too much basal ganglia output, then the ventral anterior (VA) and ventral lateral (VL) thalamocortical projection neurons become too inhibited, and one cannot initiate voluntary movement. These disorders are known as hypokinetic disorders. However, a disorder leading to abnormally low output of the basal ganglia leads to reduced inhibition, and thus excitation, of the thalamocortical projection neurons which synapse onto the cortex. This situation leads to an inability to suppress unwanted movements. These disorders are known as hyperkinetic disorders.
Susan Swedo is a researcher in the field of pediatrics and neuropsychiatry. Beginning in 1998, she was Chief of the Pediatrics & Developmental Neuroscience Branch at the US National Institute of Mental Health. In 1994, Swedo was lead author on a paper describing pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS), a controversial hypothesis proposing a link between Group A streptococcal infection in children and some rapid-onset cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or tic disorders such as Tourette syndrome. Swedo retired from the NIH in 2019, and serves on the PANDAS Physician Network.
Ecopipam is a dopamine antagonist which is under development for the treatment of Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, Tourette syndrome, speech disorders, and restless legs syndrome. It is taken by mouth.
The cause of obsessive–compulsive disorder is understood mainly through identifying biological risk factors that lead to obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) symptomology. The leading hypotheses propose the involvement of the orbitofrontal cortex, basal ganglia, and/or the limbic system, with discoveries being made in the fields of neuroanatomy, neurochemistry, neuroimmunology, neurogenetics, and neuroethology.
The delayed-maturation theory of obsessive–compulsive disorder suggests that obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) can be caused by delayed maturation of the frontal striatal circuitry or parts of the brain that make up the frontal cortex, striatum, or integrating circuits. Some researchers suspect that variations in the volume of specific brain structures can be observed in children that have OCD. It has not been determined if delayed-maturation of this frontal circuitry contributes to the development of OCD or if OCD is the ailment that inhibits normal growth of structures in the frontal striatal, frontal cortex, or striatum. However, the use of neuroimaging has equipped researchers with evidence of some brain structures that are consistently less adequate and less matured in patients diagnosed with OCD in comparison to brains without OCD. More specifically, structures such as the caudate nucleus, volumes of gray matter, white matter, and the cingulate have been identified as being less developed in people with OCD in comparison to individuals that do not have OCD. However, the cortex volume of the operculum (brain) is larger and OCD patients are also reported to have larger temporal lobe volumes; which has been identified in some women patients with OCD. Further research is needed to determine the effect of these structural size differences on the onset and degree of OCD and the maturation of specific brain structures.
Daniel A. Geller is an Australian American pediatrician and psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of pediatric obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Geller is triple board certified in Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and is director of the Pediatric OCD Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS) syndrome is one of the most controversial diseases in pediatric rheumatology.
PANDAS is not yet a validated nosological construct.Courtesy link to partial pages.
We have evaluated the clinical value of the Cunningham Panel as a diagnostic tool. Our results indicate that the panel does not contribute to correct diagnosis in a clinical setting.
Despite continued research in the field, the relationship between GAS and specific neuropsychiatric disorders (PANDAS) remains elusive.See lay summary PANDAS May Be Overdiagnosed, Contributing to Overuse of Antibiotics, Medscape, October 26, 2006.