This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Jobe, A. Articles by DeLong, G. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Jobe, A. Articles by DeLong, G. R. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Three Children With a Syndrome of Obesity and Overgrowth, Atypical Psychosis, and Seizures: A Problem in Neuropsychopharmacology

Division of Pediatric Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Darrell Lewis, MD

Division of Pediatric Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Mark Wainwright, MD, PhD

Division of Pediatric Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

G. Robert DeLong, MD

Division of Pediatric Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, delon006{at}mc.duke.edu

Three children presented with a complex syndrome of atypical psychotic and extremely immature behavior, obesity and overgrowth, borderline retardation, and seizures (prominent in two). Weight overgrowth exceeded height overgrowth and was stratospheric (up to 8 SD above mean). Obesity seemed related to lack of satiety. The cases fit no known condition: hypothalamic damage, Sotos' syndrome, and Prader-Willi syndrome were excluded. Empirical treatment with anticonvulsants (carbamazepine and acetazolamide) together with psychotropic agents (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and risperidone) controlled seizures, improved behavior, and stopped weight gain in each patient. We have not found this syndrome previously described. The etiology is unknown: perinatal encephalopathy could be a factor in the two patients with prominent seizures; in the third, familial major affective disorder is implicated. Medication responses suggest a low-serotonin state underlying the lack of satiety, an imbalance of serotonin and noradrenergic modulation in the hypothalamus, and epileptogenic disorders (or affective disorder responsive to anticonvulsants in one case) involving these same systems. (J Child Neurol 2000;15:518-528).

Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 15, No. 8, 518-528 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/088307380001500805


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?