[Tics in children and adolescents: a retrospective analysis of 78 cases].
BACKGROUND
Tics are the most frequent abnormal movement in children. A familial history of tics and a personal and familial history of neurobehavioral disturbances are common in children with this abnormality. Tics may seriously compromise daily activities in affected individuals.


OBJECTIVE
To identify the characteristics of tics in children and adolescents followed-up in the Neuropediatric Unit of the Hospital Geral de Santo António.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with tics based on information collected from medical records. The diagnostic criteria of the DSM IV-TR 2000 of the American Psychiatric Association were used.


RESULTS
The medical records of 78 children were analyzed, 84.6 % of whom were boys. More than one third of the patients were aged 4 to 8 years old. In 5.1 % of the patients tics developed before the age of 2 years. A familial history of tics, depression and obsessive disorder traits was found in approximately 30 % of patients. The most frequent comorbidity was attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (67.9 %). The occurrence of pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcus infection (PANDAS) was suggested in five patients. In all patients, motor tics occurred before vocal tics. In more than two thirds of the patients, tics were simple. In 59.0 % of the patients, tics were chronic, and in 45.7 % of these met the criteria for Tourette's syndrome. A total of 43.1 % of the patients with chronic tics received pharmacotherapy, risperidone being the most frequently used drug.


CONCLUSIONS
In general the results of the present study are in agreement with those of previous studies, underlining the need to consider a diagnosis of tics in young children and highlighting the importance of identification and appropriate treatment of comorbidities.
Catarina Prior
A
A
Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital Geral de Santo António, EPE. Porto, Portugal.
Tavares
S
S
Figueiroa
S
S
Temudo
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020323:Tics / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*