Long-term safety and efficacy of risperidone in children with disruptive behaviour disorders. Results of a 2-year extension study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the longterm efficacy, safety, and tolerability of risperidone, over a cumulative period of 3 years, in treating children with disruptive behaviour disorders and below average intelligence (IQ 35-84).

Method: This trial included 35 children (aged 6-16 years), diagnosed with disruptive behaviour disorder. All subjects had previously completed a 1-year, open-label risperidone study, and this extension study followed them for an additional 2 years of treatment.

[PET and SPECT scans in autistic children].

The authors have analyzed and compared the results of the 99mTc-ECD-SPECT and FDG-PET examinations, performed in alert state, of 12 children suffering from infantile (9 subjects) or atypical (3 subjects) autism. In addition to frontally increased FDG metabolism, a decreased blood flow with left-sided dominance was found bifrontally and bitemporally in the infantile form (perfusion-metabolism mismatch). The regional differences in cortical FDG uptake were not significant in atypical autism, although both the blood flow and the metabolism of the thalami were decreased.