A Mixed Presentation of Serotonin Syndrome vs Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome in a 12-Year-Old Boy.

BACKGROUND: Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) and serotonin syndrome (SS) are serious medical conditions associated with commonly prescribed psychiatric medications. Although the mechanisms differ, they can be clinically difficult to distinguish. We report a case of a pediatric patient with complicated psychiatric history that developed features of both syndromes in the setting of polypharmacy. CASE: A 12-year-old boy with a history of developmental delay, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder presented to the emergency department with behavior changes consisting of delayed reactions, gait instability, drooling, and slowed movements. Ten days before presentation, his outpatient psychiatrist had made multiple medication changes including discontinuation of cyproheptadine (an appetite stimulant) and initiation of aripiprazole. On arrival, the patient was noted to be tachycardia and hypertensive for age. He was disoriented, intermittently agitated, and tremulous with increased tonicity, clonus in the lower extremities, and mydriasis. He was supportively treated with lorazepam and intravenous fluids while discontinuing potential offending agents. His course was complicated by hypertension and agitation managed with dexmedetomidine infusion and benzodiazepines. His mental status, tremors, and laboratory values began to improve over the next 2 days, and eventually transitioned to the inpatient psychiatric unit on hospital day 7. DISCUSSION: Diagnosis of NMS or SS can be difficult when there is overlap between syndromes, particularly in the setting of multiple potential offending agents or underlying developmental delay. In addition, pediatric patients may present atypically as compared with adult patients with the same condition. CONCLUSION: The use of antipsychotic medications for young children with behavioral problems has risen dramatically in the last decade, increasing their risk for developing SS or NMS.

Geographic Variation in Acute Pediatric Mental Health Utilization.

OBJECTIVE: To identify locations with higher need for acute pediatric mental health (MH) interventions or services and describe these communities' socio-demographic characteristics. METHODS: This single-center retrospective study included patients 5 to 18 years old with an emergency department (ED) or hospital admission between 2017 and 2019 for a primary known MH diagnosis or symptoms. We extracted visit data from the electronic medical record, mapped patients to their home census tract, calculated normalized visit rates by census tract, and performed spatial analysis to identify nonrandom geographic clusters and outliers of high utilization. Census tract utilization rates were stratified into quartiles, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics obtained from the US Census Bureau were compared using analysis of variance, chi-square tests, and multivariable analysis. RESULTS: There were 10,866 qualifying visits across 617 census tracts. ED and hospital admission rates ranged from 2.7 to 428.6 per 1000 children. High utilization clusters localized to neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic status (p < .05). Southern regions with high utilizers were more likely to have fewer children per neighborhood, higher rates of teen births, and lower socioeconomic status. Multivariate analysis showed regions with high utilizers had fewer children per neighborhood, lower median household income, and more families that lacked computer access. CONCLUSION: ED and hospital utilization for pediatric MH concerns varied significantly by neighborhood and demographics. Divergent social factors map onto these locations and are related to MH utilization. Leveraging geography can be a powerful tool in the development of targeted, culturally tailored interventions to decrease acute pediatric MH utilization and advance child MH equity.

Somatization in acute care pediatrics: Respecting the mind-body connection.

Somatic symptom disorder is a complex condition linking distress in the mind to physical distress in the body. However, in addition to the disorder itself, experienced clinicians know that children and youth frequently experience somatizing symptoms. With an increasing prevalence of anxiety in the pediatric population, symptoms attributable to process of "somatizing" are common, and early identification and rapport building to address the root causes of a child's distress are critical for a good outcome. In the acute care setting, clinicians are often reluctant to make the diagnosis of somatization. Part of the challenge is encouraging clinicians to see that somatization is not a "diagnosis of exclusion." We want to encourage clinicians to routinely consider risk factors for somatization in their histories, actively discuss the mind-body connection with patients and families, and include somatization in a carefully considered differential diagnosis. The more we can break down the siloing of physical from mental health, the better we will serve our patients.

A Clinical Pathway to Standardize Care of Children With Delirium in Pediatric Inpatient Settings.

Pediatric delirium is an important comorbidity of medical illness in inpatient pediatric care that has lacked a consistent approach for detection and management. A clinical pathway (CP) was developed to address this need. Pediatric delirium contributes significantly to morbidity, mortality, and costs of inpatient care of medically ill children and adolescents. Screening for delirium in hospital settings with validated tools is feasible and effective in reducing delirium and improving outcomes; however, multidisciplinary coordination is required for implementation. The workgroup, composed of international experts in child and adolescent consultation psychiatry, reviewed the literature and developed a flowchart for feasible screening and management of pediatric delirium. When evidence was lacking, expert consensus was reached; stakeholder feedback was included to create the final pathway. A CP expert collaborated with the workgroup. Two sequential CPs were created: (1) "Prevention and Identification of Pediatric Delirium" emphasizes the need for systematic preventive measures and screening, and (2) "Diagnosis and Management of Pediatric Delirium" recommends an urgent and ongoing search for the underlying causes to reverse the syndrome while providing symptomatic management focused on comfort and safety. Detailed accompanying documents explain the supporting literature and the rationale for recommendations and provide resources such as screening tools and implementation guides. Additionally, the role of the child and adolescent consultation-liaison psychiatrist as a resource for collaborative care of patients with delirium is discussed.

Acute Agitation and Self-Injury in a 5-Year Old with Autism.

CASE: A 5-year-old nonverbal child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was admitted to inpatient pediatrics with new onset agitation and self-injurious behavior. His parents described him as a pleasant child without previous episodes of self-injury. Four days before admission, the parents noted new irritability followed by 2 days of self-injury to the face without clear precipitant. His hitting intensified with closed fist to face, and he required parental physical restraint to prevent further injury. Car rides and ibuprofen provided only temporary relief. He consumed minimal liquid and ate no solid food for 2 days. The parents denied any changes to the environment or routine and denied recent travel, sick contacts, fevers, cough, otalgia, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation. The patient had been diagnosed with ASD at age 18 months old but had no other significant medical history.On examination, the child was alert but distressed and restless, wearing padded mitts as his parents attempted to calm him by pushing him in a stroller. He had multiple areas of severe bruising and facial swelling in the right periorbital area, cheek, and jaw. The rest of the physical examination was unremarkable. Laboratory results included a leukocytosis with left shift, a normal metabolic panel, and an elevated creatine kinase. Other investigations included a normal lumber puncture, chest radiograph, head and face computerized tomography without contrast, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. A dentist consultant examined him and noted an erupting molar but no decay or abscesses. A psychiatric evaluation was requested as there was no clear medical source for the patient's distress.

Acute Agitation and Self-Injury in a 5-Year Old with Autism.

CASE: A 5-year-old nonverbal child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was admitted to inpatient pediatrics with new onset agitation and self-injurious behavior. His parents described him as a pleasant child without previous episodes of self-injury. Four days before admission, the parents noted new irritability followed by 2 days of self-injury to the face without clear precipitant. His hitting intensified with closed fist to face, and he required parental physical restraint to prevent further injury. Car rides and ibuprofen provided only temporary relief. He consumed minimal liquid and ate no solid food for 2 days. The parents denied any changes to the environment or routine and denied recent travel, sick contacts, fevers, cough, otalgia, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation. The patient had been diagnosed with ASD at age 18 months old but had no other significant medical history.On examination, the child was alert but distressed and restless, wearing padded mitts as his parents attempted to calm him by pushing him in a stroller. He had multiple areas of severe bruising and facial swelling in the right periorbital area, cheek, and jaw. The rest of the physical examination was unremarkable. Laboratory results included a leukocytosis with left shift, a normal metabolic panel, and an elevated creatine kinase. Other investigations included a normal lumber puncture, chest radiograph, head and face computerized tomography without contrast, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. A dentist consultant examined him and noted an erupting molar but no decay or abscesses. A psychiatric evaluation was requested as there was no clear medical source for the patient's distress.

White matter deficits assessed by diffusion tensor imaging and cognitive dysfunction in psychostimulant users with comorbid human immunodeficiency virus infection.

BACKGROUND: Psychostimulant drug use is commonly associated with drug-related infection, including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Both psychostimulant use and HIV infection are known to damage brain white matter and impair cognition. To date, no study has examined white matter integrity using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in chronic psychostimulant users with comorbid HIV infection, and determined the relationship of white matter integrity to cognitive function. METHODS: Twenty-one subjects (mean age 37.5 ± 9.0 years) with a history of heavy psychostimulant use and HIV infection (8.7 ± 4.3 years) and 22 matched controls were scanned on a 3T MRI. Fractional anisotropy (FA) values were calculated with DTI software. Four regions of interest were manually segmented, including the genu of the corpus callosum, left and right anterior limbs of the internal capsule, and the anterior commissure. Subjects also completed a neurocognitive battery and questionnaires about physical and mental health. RESULTS: The psychostimulant using, HIV positive group displayed decreased white matter integrity, with significantly lower FA values for all white matter tracts (p < 0.05). This group also exhibited decreased cognitive performance on tasks that assessed cognitive set-shifting, fine motor speed and verbal memory. FA values for the white matter tracts correlated with cognitive performance on many of the neurocognitive tests. CONCLUSIONS: White matter integrity was thus impaired in subjects with psychostimulant use and comorbid HIV infection, which predicted worsened cognitive performance on a range of tests. Further study on this medical comorbidity is required.

Prevalence and outcomes of pharmaceutical industry-sponsored clinical trials involving clozapine, risperidone, or olanzapine.

OBJECTIVE: The literature continues to highlight the debate on the ethics and merits of trials sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. This study attempts to determine the prevalence and outcomes of industry-sponsored trials involving clozapine, risperidone, or olanzapine. METHODS: We searched the literature from January 1, 1990, to December 31, 2001, to capture all eligible clinical trials involving clozapine, risperidone, or olanzapine. The primary outcome measured was the clinical outcome of industry-sponsored studies. Secondary outcome measures included the following parameters: disclosure of any sponsorship and financial support, author(s) employed by the industry, use of comparator drug(s) within the trial, sample size, blinding, and use of placebo. RESULTS: The database comprised 372 articles. Of these trials, 124 (33.3%) were sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. In general, trials sponsored by Eli Lilly or Janssen had better research design than trials not funded by the pharmaceutical industry. With regard to authorship, more trials funded by Eli Lilly (74.6%) were coauthored by an employee of the company, compared with trials funded by either Janssen (23.3%) or Novartis/Sandoz (5.6%). Further, more trials sponsored by Eli Lilly reported positive outcomes (92.1%), compared with Janssen-sponsored trials (88.4%) and Sandoz/Novartis-sponsored trials (72.2%). No negative results were reported in any of the industry-funded trials. CONCLUSIONS: One-third of the published clinical trials involving clozapine, risperidone, or olanzapine were funded by their respective manufacturer. The reported outcomes of the sponsored trials highly favour the manufacturer's product.