TY - JOUR
T1 - Dyskinesias subside off all medication in a boy with autistic disorder and severe mental retardation
AU - Brasić, James Robert
AU - Barnett, Jacqueline Y.
AU - Aisemberg, Patricia
AU - Ahn, Seok Cheol
AU - Nadrich, Robert H.
AU - Kaplan, Diana
AU - Ahmad, Raheela
AU - Mendonça, Maria De Fatima
PY - 1997/12
Y1 - 1997/12
N2 - A boy with autistic disorder and severe mental retardation developed severe dyskinesias, including objective akathisia (probable) and tics, a month after discontinuation of at least two years of treatment with drugs that block dopamine receptors. These dyskinesias greatly subsided during a 17-wk. open-label nonblind clinical trial of clomipramine, and returned transiently when the parents abruptly discontinued clomipramine. However, the dyskinesias gradually subsided during two and a half years of follow-up with the boy being off all medication. A few stereotypies remain. We believe this suggests the hypothesis that movement disorders, such as withdrawal and tardive akathisia and tics, occurring in boys with autistic disorder treated with dopamine receptor-blocking drugs may subside months or years after discontinuation of the agents and that clomipramine may facilitate this process. We also hypothesize that some boys with autistic disorder and mental retardation exhibit fewer movement disorders, fewer psychiatric symptoms, and better over-all functioning after they have received no dopamine receptor-blocking drugs for several months, and this improvement continues years after the medication has ceased.
AB - A boy with autistic disorder and severe mental retardation developed severe dyskinesias, including objective akathisia (probable) and tics, a month after discontinuation of at least two years of treatment with drugs that block dopamine receptors. These dyskinesias greatly subsided during a 17-wk. open-label nonblind clinical trial of clomipramine, and returned transiently when the parents abruptly discontinued clomipramine. However, the dyskinesias gradually subsided during two and a half years of follow-up with the boy being off all medication. A few stereotypies remain. We believe this suggests the hypothesis that movement disorders, such as withdrawal and tardive akathisia and tics, occurring in boys with autistic disorder treated with dopamine receptor-blocking drugs may subside months or years after discontinuation of the agents and that clomipramine may facilitate this process. We also hypothesize that some boys with autistic disorder and mental retardation exhibit fewer movement disorders, fewer psychiatric symptoms, and better over-all functioning after they have received no dopamine receptor-blocking drugs for several months, and this improvement continues years after the medication has ceased.
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U2 - 10.2466/pr0.1997.81.3.755
DO - 10.2466/pr0.1997.81.3.755
M3 - Article
C2 - 9400068
AN - SCOPUS:0031308720
SN - 0033-2941
VL - 81
SP - 755
EP - 767
JO - Psychological Reports
JF - Psychological Reports
IS - 3
ER -