News Release

New treatment guidelines for pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS/PANDAS)

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News

<i>Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology</i>

image: Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology is dedicated to child and adolescent psychiatry and behavioral pediatrics, covering clinical and biological aspects of child and adolescent psychopharmacology and developmental neurobiology. view more 

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, July 19, 2017 -- A panel of leading clinicians and researchers across various general and specialty pediatric fields developed comprehensive treatment recommendations to help guide the management of youngsters with a broad spectrum of neuropsychiatric conditions defined by the terms Pediatric Acute Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and PAN Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infection (PANDAS). The treatment recommendations, focusing mainly on psychiatric and behavioral interventions, treatment and prevention of infections, and immunomodulatory therapies are published in a special issue of Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers . The treatment guidelines are available free on the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology website.

The special issue on PANS/PANDAS treatment guidelines was led by Guest Editors Jennifer Frankovich, MD, Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA), Susan Swedo, MD, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD), and Tanya Murphy, MD, University of South Florida (St. Petersburg). Three articles in the issue are entitled "Clinical Management of Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS):" followed by "Part I-Psychiatric and Behavioral Interventions;" "Part II-Use of Immunomodulatory Therapies;" and "Part III-Treatment and Prevention of Infections."

In "Part I-Psychiatric and Behavioral Interventions," Margo Thienemann, MD, Stanford University and coauthors present consensus guidelines for treating the psychiatric and behavioral symptoms of children with PANS/PANDAS. Symptom improvement is aimed at decreasing suffering, improving functioning, and making it easier for the children to adhere to therapeutic interventions.

In "Part II-Use of Immunomodulatory Therapies ," Jennifer Frankovich, MD, and coauthors provide recommendations to help guide the use of therapies targeting the neuroinflammation and post-infectious autoimmunity that are common in PANS-PANDAS.

In "Part III-Treatment and Prevention of Infections," Michael Cooperstock, MD, MPH, University of Missouri School of Medicine (Columbia) and coauthors representing the PANS PANDAS Consortium, present a consensus guideline for managing the infection components of these neuropsychiatric conditions.

Drs. Swedo, Frankovich, and Murphy, in their Introduction to the special issue summarize the therapeutic challenges in treating PANS and the PANDAS subset, the development of the guidelines, and the three-pronged therapeutic approach that may combine psychiatric medications to relieve symptoms, antibiotics to eliminate the source of infection and neuroinflammation, and anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory therapies that target the immune system.

"We are very pleased to be able to provide the state of the art in clinical management of PANS and PANDAS in this issue of our journal," says Harold S. Koplewicz, MD, editor in chief of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology and President of the Child Mind Institute in New York. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers 1R01MH093381-01A1, 1R21MH087849-01A1, 1R01HD080096-01A1. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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About the Journal

Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online. The Journal is dedicated to child and adolescent psychiatry and behavioral pediatrics, covering clinical and biological aspects of child and adolescent psychopharmacology and developmental neurobiology. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, Games for Health Journal, and Violence and Gender. Its biotechnology trade magazine, GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 http://www.liebertpub.com Phone: 914-740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax: 914-740-2101


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