Catatonia in adolescents: about a series of 12 inpatients

Background: Catatonia is one of the most severe psychiatric syndromes that might be caused by many medical as well as psychiatric conditions. Catatonia in adolescents is rare and largely understudied

Aims:This papers aims to examine cases of catatonia among adolescent psychiatric inpatients, and to scrutinize both the etiologies and the management options

Methods: A retrospective descriptive study involving all cases of catatonia among adolescents admitted to the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in Razi Hospital - Manouba - Tunisia between January 2006 and December 2013. Catatonia was confirmed by Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale. Medical records were examined for gender, age, clinical presentation, medical or psychiatric diagnosis as well as management. Psychiatric diagnoses were made according to the DSM-IV criteria

Results:Our series consisted of 12 cases, aged between 12 and 16 with a sex ratio male/female of 0.5. Catatonia was due to a medical condition in three cases and to a psychiatric disorder in the other nine cases. Psychiatric diagnoses included: manic episode [n=3], major depressive episode [n=2], schizophrenia [n=2], pervasive developmental disorder [n=1] and conversion disorder [n=1]

Conclusion: Catatonia is rare yet life-threatening. Careful and thorough examination is needed to determine the etiological disorder, on which depend both treatment and prognosis

[Clinical characteristics of Rett syndrome]

Rett Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder, one of the least commonly occurring autism spectrum disorders [ASD], affecting mainly females. To describe features and molecular specificities of Rett syndrome. To identify articles for this review, a Pubmed search was conducted using the following keywords: Rett syndrome, regression,mutation, stereotypes. This syndrome is characterized by cognitive impairment,communication dysfunction, stereotypic movement disorder, and growth failure. It is generally caused by mutations in the MECP2 gene. Rett Syndrome has a prevalence ranging from 10-20 000 females. Specific treatement is not available, but patients need a careful planning for long-term care, with multidisciplinary approaches

[Attentional impairment in children with attention deficit/hyperactivity]

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] is a heterogeneous disorder currently defined by clinical history and behavioral report of impairment. The Attention Network test [ANT] gives measures of different aspects of the complex process of attention. We ask if children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD] will show a characteristic pattern of deficits on this test. The sample included 40 children [M=9 years] who performed the Attention network test". Children with an ADHD diagnosis [N=20] were compared to a control group [N=20]. The group of children with ADND showed slower reaction times in all conditions [mean RT=866sns; SD=234, 063]. Children with ADHD showed a significant impairment in their executive control system compared to healthy subjects, with slower reaction times in incongruent conditions and lower accuracy scores [RT=1064 ms; F[1.38] p=0.02]]. Our results showed that spatial orienting and alerting in ADHD was no different than controls [p=0, 68]. ADHD group showed a greater variable response [p=0, 0001]. The present study showed that impairment in executive control system and variability measures are the characteristic pattern of deficits in children with ADHD

[ diagnosis of temporal epilepsy in child psychiatry: a report of 7 cases]

This paper attempts to describe the features of temporal epilepsy in patients firstly considered as having psychiatric disorders. The cases of seven patients followed between 2005 arc 2008 at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department of Ran Hospital, aged II to 15 years are treated. All the patients showed complex partial seizures, and some of them showed secondarily generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Seizures were predominantly made of psychic symptoms [delusion fear, aggressiveness] hot also associated sensory, motor and vegetative features, In 5 cases, epilepsy was idiopathic, and symptomatic of brain anomaly in 2 cases, Careful attention must be paid to paroxystic symptoma in children