View clinical trials related to Pandas.
Filter by:This study is a brief (3 month) longitudinal study following children between the ages of 4-16 years old who have been diagnosed with Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS). Parents and children (who are at a 2nd grade reading level) will complete questionnaires online or in person weekly for 3 months. Additionally, parents will track their child's symptoms 3 times/week using a mobile application for 3 months. The investigators are hoping to begin to characterize the longitudinal trajectory of neuropsychiatric symptoms in children with PANS. Additionally, the study will seek to identify baseline demographic and clinical characteristics (e.g., gender, recent onset versus chronic course, GAS versus other triggers) that predict severity of baseline neuropsychiatric symptoms and predict change in symptoms over time.
This project aims to rigorously evaluate a potential treatment for inflammation-related Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms in children. To accomplish this goal, the investigators will conduct a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of Naproxen Sodium, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) in participants diagnosed with Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal infections (PANDAS). This research fills a gap in the empirical evidence base for the treatment of PANDAS, and will add to a growing literature of empirically-derived practices for PANDAS.
This study is an investigation of the neurologic, immunologic, and rheumatologic markers of Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS). PANS is a condition characterized by the abrupt, dramatic onset of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and/or eating restriction accompanied by equally abrupt and severe co-morbid neuropsychiatric symptoms, which include anxiety, emotional lability, depression, irritability, aggression, oppositionality, deterioration in school performance, behavioral (developmental) regression, sensory amplification, movement abnormalities, sleep disturbance, and urinary frequency. PANS is thought to be caused by infection, inflammation, or alternate triggers that is associated with a brain response that leads to these symptoms. The purpose of this study is to examine specific neurologic, immunologic, rheumatologic, and genomic, components in children with the acute-onset of psychiatric symptoms. This research may begin to uncover a much larger story of autoimmune processes that are involved in psychiatric disorders of childhood. By better understanding the etiologic components of psychiatric phenomenon, future treatments may be better targeted to underlying causes.
Background: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is considered one of the most debilitating of the psychiatric illnesses, yet much remains unclear regarding causes and cures. A diagnostic subgroup with acute onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms (and sometimes tics or anorexia nervosa) possibly due to an autoimmune response, has been entitled Pediatric Acute onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS). PANS is sometimes treated with immunomodulatory therapy or antibiotics, with a variable outcome. A diagnosis of PANS is supported by elevated levels of auto-antibodies and antibody-enzyme activity measured with the Cunningham panel, but the relationship between these biomarkers and the patients' symptoms remains unclear. A clinician rated symptom scale for PANS (the PANS scale) has been developed, but needs to be further evaluated regarding sensitivity and specificity. Aims: - To assess a Swedish cohort of patients diagnosed with PANS and compile their psychiatric health status, biomarkers, psychiatric symptoms, soft neurological signs and treatment outcomes in a systematic way - To compare psychiatric health status, biomarkers and psychiatric, neurologic and motor symptoms in this PANS cohort with a control group of psychiatric patients and with healthy children. - To evaluate the Cunningham panel as a diagnostic tool for PANS. - To evaluate a clinician rated symptom scale (the PANS scale) as a diagnostic tool for PANS. Method: Observational study Participants: Patients (n≈150) who have been tested with the Cunningham panel of PANS biomarkers in Sweden (or Swedish patients tested in Denmark) will be asked to participate. Procedure: Assessment of current symptoms, psychiatric health, neurological and motor symptoms and possible biomarkers for PANS will be collected for all patients. Retrospective assessment through interview and medical records, including results from the first assessment with the Cunningham panel of PANS-biomarkers is made with all patients. 50 out of the total PANS cohort of 150 patients will be re-tested with the Cunningham panel. A control group consisting of psychiatric patients (n=60) and healthy children (n=25) will be examined with a similar test battery and signs and symptoms will be compared with the PANS group. Significance: Previous and current symptoms of PANS, levels of PANS biomarkers and treatment outcome will be investigated, thus knowledge regarding long-term outcome and evidence for the use of clinical assessment tools and biomarkers for diagnosing PANS will be gained.
An increasing body of evidence indicates that an immune basis might underline a number of pediatric neuropsychiatric disorders. Research studies found a subgroup of children who had Obsessive compulsive (OCD) and/or tic disorders following a Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal (GAS) infection. The subgroup is identified by the acronym, PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. More recently, several PANDAS variants have been described, including adult-onset variant. There are many evidences that OCD/tic symptoms could be due to an immunologic reaction against brain tissues following a streptococcal infection. The purpose of this study is to know if sertraline (one of the SSRI approved by FDA to improve OCD/tic symptoms in these patients) plus antibiotic (benzathine penicillin G or azithromycin in case of penicillin allergy) is more effective than SSRI only. Patients who will not respond to antibiotic will be treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) in order to inactivate the immune reaction versus brain tissues.(No treatment response is based on the lack of a Y-BOCS score improvement of at least 35%). Objectives: - To determine the safety and efficacy of SSRI+AB compared to SSRI only. - To test the safety and additional beneficial effects of high dose of IVIG on antibiotic prophylaxis for the treatment of OCD symptoms in non-responders patients with PANDAS. Study methodology: - Participants will be screened to obtain medical history and other information at Neurologic and Psychiatric Sciences Department of Florence University Hospital and at Paris-est University. - Participants will receive a treatment of either SSRI+AB or SSRI+placebo for 12 weeks (double-blind randomized trial) - Patients who will not respond to AB will be admitted to the hospital to receive IVIG for 5 days, for 5 consecutive months. - Follow-up visits will take place 3 and 6 months after the first evaluation, followed by 6 months follow-ups for 3 additional years. Blood samples (including blood cytokine determination), ECG, Doppler and 2-dimensional echocardiogram EEG, imaging studies (2 tesla MRI), and other tests will be performed both before and after the treatment with SSRI+AB or SSRI+placebo and in case also after IVIG treatment.
The purpose of this research study is to know if the antibiotic azithromycin, an antibiotic approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating infections, improves symptom severity in children with sudden and severe onset obsessive compulsive symptoms known as PANS, Pediatric Acute Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome, and PANDAS, Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus. This study seeks to compare the effects of placebo vs. azithromycin on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptom severity as well as to assess immune risk factors in children with PANDAS/PANS. Obsessions are repetitive, unwanted thoughts or worries that may be unpleasant, silly, or embarrassing. Compulsions are repetitive or ritualistic actions that are performed to ease anxiety or worries. Doctors think these symptoms may be caused or exacerbated by certain infections such as Streptococcus pyogenes, Mycoplasma pneumonia, Borrelia burgordfi, etc. These infections commonly cause strep throat, walking pneumonia, and Lyme Disease, among others. This study will involve a 4 week double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial of azithromycin (Double Blind Phase). At the end of this 4 week trial, the child will be assigned to azithromycin for 8 weeks (Open Label Phase). At the end of these 12 weeks, a Naturalistic Observation phase will assess the child's symptom characteristics for up to 40 weeks. The study hypothesizes that children receiving antibiotic will show significantly greater overall improvement in severity compared with placebo, and that children with sudden onset of OCD and whose subsequent course shows dramatic fluctuations will have evidence of immune risk factors that predisposes to this presentation.
Background: - Some children experience a sudden onset of symptoms similar to those found in obsessive-compulsive disorder that may be caused by the body s reaction to an infection with streptococcal bacteria, most commonly seen as strep throat or scarlet fever. When the body s immune system reacts against brain cells following a streptococcal infection, the condition is known as PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections). The immune system response can be inactivated by treatment with a drug known as intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Because there is insufficient research on IVIG s effects on the immune system of children with PANDAS, including whether IVIG is helpful in treating obsessive-compulsive symptoms related to PANDAS, researchers are interested in examining whether IVIG is an appropriate treatment for PANDAS and its associated symptoms. Objectives: - To test the safety and effectiveness of intravenous immunoglobulin for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder in children with PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infection). Eligibility: - Children between 4 and 12 years of age who have obsessive-compulsive disorder (with or without a tic disorder) with sudden onset of symptoms following Group A streptococcal bacterial infections. Design: - Participants will be screened by telephone to obtain medical history and other information, followed by in-person screening at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. - Participants will be admitted to the hospital to receive 2 days of infusions of either IVIG or a placebo. Frequent blood samples, imaging studies, and other tests will be performed during this visit. - Six weeks after the inpatient stay, participants will return for further blood samples and other tests. Participants who did not receive the study drug, or who received the drug but did not respond to the initial IVIG infusion, will have the option to receive IVIG at this time. - Followup visits will take place 3 months and 6 months after the first evaluation, followed by yearly follow-ups for 5 additional years.