Abstract
This issue of the journal epitomizes the international character of pediatric mental health research, with articles coming out of Israel, China, Denmark, and Italy, in addition to the United States. I find it comforting and inspiring that, at a time when so many communities around the world are isolated and fractured due to the coronavirus pandemic, our scientific community is staying connected and continuing to work toward the greater good.
Two international groups offer studies that contribute helpfully to our understanding of how disorders may manifest or be treated differently overseas. Gagliano et al. present a fascinating report of their data mining approach to symptomatology of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) in a cohort of 39 Italian children. Seeking to determine the validity of the 2010 NIH working the criteria, the authors take a statistical and computer modeling approach that shows promise for application in the categorical diagnostics and biomarker discovery. “Our study could be considered a statistical validation of the existence of the still controversial clinical entity named PANS,” they write, “and describes it as a clinical complex constellation of psychiatric symptoms and adventitious movements, as well as the expression of different serological variables of an autoimmune/inflammatory disease.”
Elsewhere, Rasmussen et al. use Danish health registries to describe medication treatment of tic disorders in the community in that country. They find that the most common medication in youth with tic disorders is psychostimulants to treat comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and that, despite an increase in prescriptions for aripiprazole for the specific treatment of tics, risperidone remains the most common first-line medication for tics. Regardless of these medication trends, the authors write, “few children and adolescents with a hospital-based tic disorder diagnosis use tic suppressing medication during the first year after diagnosis. This corresponds well the watchful waiting strategy that is often applied in the clinical management of tic disorders.”
Peled et al. report findings from an Israeli study of psychiatric mediations in pediatric cancer patients, adding valuably to the literature on comorbid medical illness and mental health disorders. “Olanzapine and risperidone can be well tolerated and ameliorate severe psychiatric-medical symptoms in children and adolescents with cancer,” they write. In addition, the potential palliative benefits of these second-generation antipsychotics (e.g., rapid onset of action, antiemesis, sedation, and appetite stimulation) increase the utility of their use in children treated in oncology and bone marrow transplant units.
Finally, given that September is National Suicide Prevention Month, I urge readers to consider Thompson et al.'s article on the interrelation between suicidality, sleep problems, and disorganized thinking in adolescents. For clinician-researchers, it is heartening to have contributions to the literature that can inform practice and potentially help save young lives.