62nd Annual Meeting

October 26 - 31, 2015

Clinical Case Conference 5 (open)

Neuropsychiatric Mystery Case: Early Age Onset Dystonia and Use of Antipsychotics in a Pediatric Patient

Early onset dystonia in the pediatric population can be a manifestation of a range of genetic and metabolic causes. Some of the diseases related to early commencement dystonia in children also present with seizures, agitation, and a variety of other neurologic and behavioral findings. A prudent psychiatrist rules out potential neurologic causes prior to initiating treatment to target behavioral symptoms in these types of patients. Clinicians discuss early onset dystonia through a review of appropriate neuropsychiatric assessment strategies that may reduce the risk of adverse outcomes when starting antipsychotics in children with disruptive behaviors; and discuss how the use of polypharmacy in complex cases can further complicate psychiatric presentation.