Diagnosis
According to Lombroso and Scahill, 2008, "(f)ive diagnostic criteria were proposed for PANDAS: (1) the presence of a tic disorder and/or OCD consistent with DSM-IV; (2) prepubertal onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms; (3) a history of a sudden onset of symptoms and/or an episodic course with abrupt symptom exacerbation interspersed with periods of partial or complete remission; (4) evidence of a temporal association between onset or exacerbation of symptoms and a prior streptococcal infection; and (5) adventitious movements (e.g., motoric hyperactivity and choreiform movements) during symptom exacerbation". The children, originally described by Swedo et al in 1998, usually have dramatic, "overnight" onset of symptoms, including motor or vocal tics, obsessions, and/or compulsions. Some studies have supported acute exacerbations associated with streptococcal infections among clinically defined PANDAS subjects (Murphy and Pichichero, 2002; Giulino et al, 2002); others have not (Luo et al, 2004; Perrin et al, 2004).
Concerns have been raised that PANDAS may be overdiagnosed, as a significant number of patients diagnosed with PANDAS by community physicians did not meet the criteria when examined by specialists, suggesting that the PANDAS diagnosis is conferred by community physicians without conclusive evidence.
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