[Safety and tolerability of psychotropic medications in childhood: preliminary data of a pharmacovigilance study]. / Tollerabilità dei farmaci psicotropi in età evolutiva: dati preliminari di un'esperienza di farmacovigilanza attiva.

AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate adverse drug reactions (ADRs) of psychotropic medications in childhood. METHODS: One hundred and two children and adolescents (M 82.4%, F 17.6%) followed-up at the Division of Child Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Messina, and at the Scientific Institute Child Neurology and Psychiatry, IRCCS Stella Maris, Calambrone, Pisa, were recruited between January 2009 and December 2011. All participants met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for psychiatric disorders. The data were collected using a recording sheet for ADRs. An electronic database was also used. The recording sheet was designed to note all relevant information about drug treatment and ADRs according to AIFA (Agenzia Italiana del Farmaco) suggestions. RESULTS: The most prescribed drugs were: risperidone (19.6%), aripiprazole (18.4%) and valproic acid (14.8%). The ADRs more frequently recorded had been: weight gain (12.6%), sleepiness (8.4%), and irritability (6.7%). None of recorded ADRs were classified as "serious". CONCLUSION: This study can provide a basic model to collect information on safety and tolerability of psychotropic drugs in childhood.

Idiopathic familial trigeminal neuralgia: a case report.

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is paroxysmal, lancinant pain often described as an "electric wave" by patients, with involvement of the divisions of the fifth cranial nerve. Demyelinating, compressive, ischaemic diseases are involved in the physiopathology of TN, but there are some cases without explanation. Familial TN (FTN) is a rare condition, about 1%-2% of all TN cases, while sporadic cases are the most common. To date, there have been about 126 reports of FTN. We describe the case of a 66-year-old man who had been complaining for 3 years of right-side paroxysmal lancinating pain in the second division of the fifth cranial nerve. A brain MRI with angiographic sequences did not show neurovascular conflicts or other pathological conditions. The patient had a family history of TN, which had been diagnosed in 3 other family members (father, sister and first cousin), who had undergone medical or surgical treatment for TN. There was no family history of hypertension, metabolic disorders, neurological or traumatic diseases. Animal studies have shown a probable involvement of genes codifying for calcium channels as the starting alterations in trigeminal excitability. Our FTN could be a good model to investigate the role of gene mutations in this condition.