Gone baby gone

[Posted on 2 October, 2018 by Christopher Gillberg]

It has been 25 years since Susan Swedo described the condition now referred to as PANDAS* (which, more recently, has come to be included as a subgroup of the somewhat larger group PANS**). Swedo had herself previously examined children who after bouts of rheumatic fever (brought on by streptococcus infection) had developed Sydenham’s chorea, a condition characterised by abnormal motor movements of the face, hands and feet, and in many cases speech difficulties, slowed cognitive processing, obsessive-compulsive thoughts, concentration difficulties, hyperactivity and other psychiatric symptoms as well. Onset of Sydenham’s chorea is usually quite acute, but typically only occurs many months after a streptococcus infection has concluded.

PANDAS/PANS is similar to Sydenham’s chorea in all relevant aspects where mental symptoms are concerned, but they manifest more dramatically; motor control issues, however, are much less pronounced or completely absent. Onset is often extremely acute – from one day to the next, or at the very least from one week to the next. A child who has previously only shown minimal or moderate signs of autism, ADHD or other ESSENCE problems (problems mild enough to generally not warrant any diagnosis) are suddenly stricken with severe separation anxiety, obsessive-compulsive thoughts and actions, tics, concentration difficulties, emotional withdrawal, tantrums, crying spells or even severe psychosis-like symptoms. Quite often they also start wetting themselves and acting as though their development has regressed by several years. Some children with this dramatic symptomatology have recently gone through a streptococcus infection (in which case it might be reasonable to consider PANDAS), whereas in other cases there is no proven link to infection whatsoever (whether streptococcus or otherwise). There are some cases where, even without any clear link to streptococcus infection, penicillin treatment still appears to reduce symptoms. However, the reason for this is unknown.

The CNC/GNC is conducting a research study on PANS in children and adolescents and the first results are currently being published.

There are a number of things that I would like to strongly emphasise now that we have completed this study on PANS, the first Swedish study of its kind aimed only at children, adolescents and their families:

1. PANS exists and is not “a hoax” or “fabricated”.
2. PANS has nothing to do with Münchhausen syndrome, which is to say that this is not something that sick or weird parents have come up with.
3. The child has usually had some minor problems before the frightening deterioration occurs.
4. Immune diseases among close family members are not uncommon.
5. We know almost nothing about the causes behind it.
6. We do not know how common it is.
7. We do not know how closely related it is to regressive autism, Sydenham’s chorea or Landau-Kleffner syndrome.

All of this means that continued research on PANS should be a top priority, especially at institutions equipped with both knowledge and an interest in expanding that knowledge base, such as the CNC/GNC in Gothenburg and the OCD team/Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital in Stockholm.

Anyone who feels that their child has suddenly been “spirited away” without any explanation must have some avenue towards help and understanding. Most importantly, we need to figure out what is best for all the children who one day start acting in an unrecognisable manner, almost as if their old selves were “gone”. Almost nothing can be worse in this situation than to meet so-called experts who do nothing but mistrust and question one’s account of the symptoms and the circumstances surrounding their onset.

Families living with PANS know how terrible it can be to suddenly feel as though they have “lost a healthy child”. By allowing these families to meet doctors and psychologists who are knowledgeable in the field, we can at least give them a chance to feel like they “got their child back”.

*PANDAS=Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal infection
**PANS=Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome

[This is a blog. The purpose of the blog is to provide information and raise awareness concerning important issues. All views and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily shared by the GNC.]