PANS

The objective of the Pediatric Epidemiological Data and Incidence (PEDI) PANDAS study is to demonstrate the feasibility of enrollment and retention of subjects in a study to determine the incidence and natural history of children with Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) with regard to spectrum, course and outcome. The investigators aim to demonstrate they can recruit and retain 85% of children who are eligible for this study. Eligible children are those who fit criteria for PANS and Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus (PANDAS). Each child will be followed for one year.

This study is an investigation of the neurologic, immunologic, and rheumatologic markers of Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS). PANS is a condition characterized by the abrupt, dramatic onset of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and/or eating restriction accompanied by equally abrupt and severe co-morbid neuropsychiatric symptoms, which include anxiety, emotional lability, depression, irritability, aggression, oppositionality, deterioration in school performance, behavioral (developmental) regression, sensory amplification, movement abnormalities, sleep disturbance, and urinary frequency. PANS is thought to be caused by infection, inflammation, or alternate triggers that is associated with a brain response that leads to these symptoms. The purpose of this study is to examine specific neurologic, immunologic, rheumatologic, and genomic, components in children with the acute-onset of psychiatric symptoms. This research may begin to uncover a much larger story of autoimmune processes that are involved in psychiatric disorders of childhood. By better understanding the etiologic components of psychiatric phenomenon, future treatments may be better targeted to underlying causes.