Treating our youngest patients: psychotropic medications in early childhood.

Over the past several decades there have been multiple studies indicating that infants, toddlers and preschoolers who develop emotional and behavioral problems may not simply outgrow their problems. Early intervention is ideal, and may help to maximize long-term functioning. When other interventions fail or do not fully address the symptoms, psychotropic medications can be very helpful, even in the preschool years.

Brain imaging: evoked potential, quantitative EEG and SPECT abnormalities in schizophrenia.

The case of a nineteen-year-old female with a three-year history of psychiatric symptomatology clinically consistent with the DSM-III-R diagnosis of schizophrenia is presented. Neurophysiologic assessment using topographic brain mapping demonstrated auditory evoked potential P300 asymmetry with left temporal inactivation and increased latency, while EEG frequency analysis was remarkable for left hemispheric slow wave predominance as well as increased left temporal beta activity. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) using hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) in the same patient revealed radionucleide uptake reductions in the frontotemporal cortical regions.