Obsessive-compulsive symptoms in sibling pairs concordant for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a heterogeneous disorder of unknown etiology. Phenotypic studies of affected sib-pairs (SPs) may help to characterize familial components of the phenotype. To determine whether SPs affected with OCD are similar in age at onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS), symptom dimensions and presence of tic disorders (TDs).

Clinical features associated with treatment response in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effect of sociodemographic and clinical features on the short-term response to pharmacological treatment in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We focused especially on investigating factors previously associated with poorer prognosis, such as comorbidity with tic disorders, early onset of symptoms, and sensory phenomena preceding compulsions, which have been described as common in both tic-related and early-onset OCD.

Method: The study involved 41 consecutive adult patients with OCD diagnosed according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) criteria and was conducted at the OCD Spectrum Disorders Clinic of the University of Sao Paulo School of Medicine in São Paulo, Brazil, between January of 2000 and December of 2001.

Tourette's Syndrome.

This article has focused on TS, and the relationship between TS and OCD has been addressed from different perspectives. In patients who have OCD, the presence of TS seems to have some impact in the clinical manifestation of OCD symptoms. One of the main features of tic-related OCD is the frequent presence of sensory phenomena preceding the compulsions, in the absence of obsessions.

Obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders and rheumatic fever: a family study.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders (OCSDs) are more frequent in patients with active or prior rheumatic fever (RF), suggesting that OCSD and RF may share underlying etiologic mechanisms. Our objective was to estimate the frequency of OCSD in first-degree relatives (FDRs) of RF patients and controls to determine whether there is a familial relationship between OCSD and RF.

Methods: This is a case-control family study.

Chronic tics and Tourette syndrome in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Tourette syndrome (TS) and chronic motor/vocal tics (CMVT) are both common disorders in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). However, there have been few studies evaluating the differences between the OCD with TS and OCD with CMVT subgroups. This study was conducted in order to further investigate possible differences between the expression of the OCD phenotype in OCD with TS and that seen in OCD with CMVT.

Adaptive, emotional, and family functioning of children with obsessive-compulsive disorder and comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to examine adaptive, emotional, and family functioning in a well-characterized group of children and adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and to evaluate the influence of comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on the levels of impairment in various functional domains.

Method: The study group included 287 children and adolescents (191 boys, 96 girls) ages 7-18 years. Fifty-six subjects had a diagnosis of OCD only, 43 had both OCD and ADHD, 95 had ADHD, and 93 were unaffected comparison children.

A family study of early-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Results from family studies have suggested that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder and have emphasized the importance of identifying valid subgroups of patients. The current study focused on early-onset OCD probands and examined the recurrence risks of OCD and tics among first-degree family members. One hundred six children and adolescents with OCD were recruited from a specialty clinic for OCD and 44 control individuals without OCD were identified by random-digit dialing.

A multidimensional model of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a clinically heterogeneous condition. This heterogeneity can reduce the power and obscure the findings from natural history studies to genome scans, neuroimaging, and clinical trials. The authors review the evidence supporting a multidimensional model of OCD.

Obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders in rheumatic fever with and without Sydenham's chorea.

Background: Recent findings suggest that acute-phase rheumatic fever (RF) patients present with higher frequencies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and tic disorders. Until now, there have been no such studies in RF in non-acute phases.

Objective: To verify whether patients with a history of RF with or without Sydenham's chorea (SC) present with higher rates of OCD, tic disorders, and other obsessive-compulsive (OC) spectrum disorders (such as body dysmorphic disorder [BDD]) than controls.

[The neurobiological bases of obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome].

Objective: To describe and discuss evidence-based articles on the neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome.

Sources Of Data: A review of the most relevant papers on the phenomenology, neuroanatomy, neuroimaging, genetic and immunological aspects of these two disorders was performed.

Summary Of The Findings: Ritualistic behaviors and repetitive thoughts have been extensively studied in the last years.

Impact of age at onset and duration of illness on the expression of comorbidities in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients usually experience comorbidities including tics, trichotillomania, body dysmorphic disorder, and mood and anxiety disorders. The present report verifies how age at onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms and duration of illness are associated with comorbid diagnoses in OCD patients.

Method: Psychiatric comorbidity was assessed using a structured clinical interview in 161 consecutive outpatients referred for treatment between 1996 and 2001 who met DSM-IV criteria for OCD.

Influence of age and tic disorders on obsessive-compulsive disorder in a pediatric sample.

Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a heterogeneous disorder with emerging data suggesting that age of onset and/or the presence of tics may define clinically important subgroups.

Objective: This study set out to evaluate the impact of age and tic disorders on the symptom profile in a pediatric sample of patients with OCD ascertained from a specialty clinic.

Methods: Eighty children with OCD (50 boys, 30 girls) were assessed for symptom type, severity, age of onset, presence of a tic disorder, and functional status.

Obsessive-compulsive symptom dimensions in affected sibling pairs diagnosed with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an etiologically heterogeneous disorder. Recent factor analyses have consistently identified several symptom dimensions, two of which are associated with increased familial risk for OCD; aggressive, sexual, and religious obsessions and checking compulsions (FACTOR 1) and symmetry and ordering obsessions and compulsions (FACTOR 2). Both of these symptom dimensions are also frequently seen in association with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS).