Cigarette Smoking, Alcohol and Cannabis Use in Patients With Pervasive Developmental Disorders.

Background And Objectives: This study aimed to examine the rates of cigarette smoking, alcohol and cannabis use among patients with pervasive developmental disorder (PDD), in order to determine whether they are relatively protected from developing substance-related addictive behaviors.

Methods: This case-control study included 85 patients diagnosed with PDD and 85 age- and gender-matched nonpsychotic psychiatric patients without PDD. Data were collected from the patients' electronic medical records and included demographic and psychiatric parameters, as well as data on smoking, alcohol, and cannabis use.

Short-term effects of lithium on white blood cell counts and on levels of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone and creatinine in adolescent inpatients: a retrospective naturalistic study.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if the known side effects of lithium in adults may be generalized to younger patients with psychiatric disorders.

Methods: A retrospective naturalistic study design was used. Data were collected from the database of a tertiary pediatric medical center covering the years 1994-2010.

The beneficial effect of methylphenidate in ADHD with comorbid separation anxiety.

The objective of this study was to assess the response of subsyndromal separation anxiety (SSSA) symptoms to methylphenidate (MPH) treatment in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). A group of patients with ADHD and SSSA (n=42), aged 8-17 years, received 12 weeks of MPH treatment. The severity of SSSA symptoms was assessed using appropriate scales including the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and the specially designed Child and Adolescent Separation Anxiety Scale (CASAS).

Methylphenidate treatment in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and comorbid social phobia.

The aim of this study was to assess the response of social phobia (SP) symptoms to methylphenidate (MPH) treatment in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Twenty-one ADHD patients with SP, aged between 8 and 18 years, received 12 weeks of MPH treatment. The severity of SP symptoms were assessed by the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale for Children and Adolescents (LSAS-CA), and the severity of ADHD symptoms was assessed by the ADHD Rating Scale at baseline and at endpoint.

Reboxetine treatment for autistic spectrum disorder of pediatric patients with depressive and inattentive/hyperactive symptoms: an open-label trial.

Background: Reboxetine is a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor that may be useful in treating pediatric depression as well as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Both are often comorbid with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). We evaluated the effectiveness of reboxetine treatment in pediatric patients with ASD with symptoms of depression and ADHD.

Handshaking as a measure of social responsiveness in patients with autistic spectrum disorder.

Background: Children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties understanding and using nonverbal communication. Handshaking is an expressive gesture that requires adequate skills for social interaction and, because of its highly emotional characteristic for patients with ASD, may reflect their ability for social responsiveness. Unlike eye contact or complex social behavior, this gesture has not been studied in the past.

Late potentials in the signal-averaged electrocardiogram in pre-pubertal children with ADHD, before and after methylphenidate treatment.

Reports on sudden cardiac death (SCD) of children and adolescents treated with stimulant agents have raised concerns regarding the need for cardiovascular monitoring and risk stratification schedules. Cardiac ventricular late potentials (LPs) represent delayed ventricular activation that might predispose to fatal ventricular arrhythmias and SCD in cardiac patients. LPs have not previously been measured in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Low-dose quetiapine for adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder and aggressive behavior: open-label trial.

Background: Atypical antipsychotics may be useful in treating aggression associated with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). We evaluated the effectiveness of low-dose quetiapine treatment in ASD adolescent patients with aggressive behavior.

Method: Eleven adolescent patients (8 boys and 3 girls) diagnosed with ASD, aged 13 to 17 years, were treated with quetiapine in an open-label study over an 8-week period.

Methylphenidate treatment in pediatric patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and comorbid trichotillomania: a preliminary report.

Objectives: Trichotillomania (TTM) is a heterogenic mental disorder with a high rate of comorbidity and stressful life events (SLEs). Serotonergic and dopaminergic dysfunction are implicated in the pathophysiology of TTM. As in other impulse control disorders, increased prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is reported in patients with TTM as well.

Influence of methylphenidate treatment on smoking behavior in adolescent girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity and borderline personality disorders.

Background: Cigarette smoking and nicotine dependence are prevalent among pediatric populations with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We assessed the impact of methylphenidate (MPH)treatment on the smoking behavior of adolescent girls with ADHD/borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Method: Twelve female adolescent smokers with ADHD/BPD aged 14to 19 years were treated with MPH for an 8-week period.

Methylphenidate in the treatment of female adolescents with cooccurrence of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and borderline personality disorder: a preliminary open-label trial.

Recent studies reported symptomatic overlap between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD). Methylphenidate (MPH) is the most efficient treatment for ADHD. We assessed the efficacy and tolerability of MPH treatment in adolescent females who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)-IV criteria for both disorders.

Reduced platelet vesicular monoamine transporter density in Tourette's syndrome pediatric male patients.

The vesicular monoamine transporter (VMAT2) plays a major role in the synaptic accumulation and quantal release of monoamines. In this study, we assessed high affinity [(3)H]dihydrotetrabenazine binding to platelet VMAT2, in a group of untreated male Tourette's syndrome (TS) patients (age: 8-17.5 years, n=9) and in a group of age- and sex-matched healthy controls (age: 9-16 years, n=16).

Neurosteroids in child and adolescent psychopathology.

Neurosteroids play a significant role in neurodevelopment and are involved in a wide variety of psychopathological processes. There is accumulating evidence on their role in adult psychopathology, including Alzheimer disease, schizophrenia, mood disorder, anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder. Little is known, however, about the possible role of neurosteroids in child and adolescent psychopathology although there is increasing evidence for their critical role from the early stages of brain development until adolescence.

Balance dysfunction in childhood anxiety: findings and theoretical approach.

A recent special issue of the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, reviewed the experimental and clinical findings related to comorbidity of balance disorders and anxiety [J. Anxiety Disord. 15 (2001) 1.

Attention patterns in children with attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity.

The objective of this study was to differentiate the attention patterns associated with attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity using continuous performance test (CPT). The diagnoses were based on the DSM-III, III-R, and IV criteria and of the 39 children who participated in the study, 14 had attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity (ADDH) and 11 had attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity (ADDWO), while 14 normal children served as a control group. Attention patterns were examined according to the performance of subjects on the CPT and parental scores on the ADHD Rating Scale, the Child Attention Profile, and the Conners Rating Scale.