Childhood Organic Neurological Disease Presenting As Psychiatric Disorder T
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Arch Dis Child: first published as 10.1136/adc.50.2.115 on 1 February 1975. Downloaded from Archives of Disease in Childhood, 1975, 50, 115. Childhood organic neurological disease presenting as psychiatric disorder T. M. RIVINUS,* D. L. JAMISON,t and P. J. GRAHAM From the Departments of Neurology and Psychological Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, London Rivinus, T. M., Jamison, D. L., and Graham, P. J. (1975). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 50, 115. Childhood organic neurological disease presenting as psychiatric disorder. Over a period of one year 12 children with complaints which had been diagnosed as due to a psychiatric disorder presented to a paediatric neurological unit where neurological disease was diagnosed. The group was characterized by behavioural symptoms such as deteriorating school performance, visual loss, and postural disturbance, which are unusual in children attending child psychiatric departments. It is suggested that where there is diagnostic uncertainty the presence of these physical symptoms calls for periodic neurological reassessment, and attention is drawn to the rare but serious disorders which may thus be diagnosed. Making an organic diagnosis, however, should not preclude psychosocial management of emotional reactions in these families. There are many situations in which, though a where it is present. This paper provides data on a child complains of bodily symptoms, it would be number of children with neurological disorders copyright. inappropriate after adequate investigation to regard whose complaints had previously been thought to be the problem as anything other than a disorder of purely of a psychiatric nature. emotional life. Environmental stress leads certain The aims in reporting this study are first to individuals to become unusually aware of normal prevent or at least reduce the likelihood of similar body sensations. The physiological concomitants diagnostic errors in the future, and secondly to draw of anxiety may be experienced as uncomfortable attention to a number of rare neurological conditions bodily sensations. Loss of sensory or motor which general practitioners, school health doctors, http://adc.bmj.com/ function, especially in the limbs, may occur as a child psychiatrists, and paediatricians might over- morbid response to an otherwise intolerable internal look. conflict or external stress. A child's complaint of physical discomfort, especially pain, may represent a Method communication where other methods of calling for In the 12 months between July 1972 and June 1973, 12 attention have failed. In all these situations a children were admitted to the neurological wards of The psychiatric approach aimed at understanding the life Hospital for Sick Children who had previously been situation of the child and family will be more diagnosed as suffering from psychiatric disorder, but who on September 27, 2021 by guest. Protected rewarding than any attempt to deal with the problem on investigation were found to have neurological disorder. All of these were seen personally by either as a physical one with organic aetiology and needing T.M.R. or D.L.J. In none of these children was there physical treatment. any reasonable doubt that the original symptoms of Yet the knowledge that physical symptoms occur, cognitive disability or behaviour and emotional disorder indeed occur frequently, as a response to stress were due to the neurological disorder ultimately without any sinister somatic implications may diagnosed. clearly lead us mistakenly to miss physical illness Information on these children was obtained from hospital notes and from reports obtained from child Received 4 July 1974. psychiatrists and paediatricians who had seen them was tabulated in terms of Present addresses: *The Children's Hospital Medical Center, 300 previously. The information Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, presenting symptoms, age at which these appeared, U.S.A. psychiatric diagnosis, the professional group of doctors t105 Barrack Road, Auckland 6, New Zealand. making the psychiatric d;agnosis, final neurological 115 Arch Dis Child: first published as 10.1136/adc.50.2.115 on 1 February 1975. Downloaded from 116 Rivinus, Jamison, and Graham diagnosis, and period of time between initial psychiatric were deteriorating school performance in 6 of the 12 and final neurological diagnoses. children, and disturbances of posture in 5. The remaining child had difficulty in seeing the blackboard at Patients. Among the 12 children there were 7 girls school. In a number of the children these symptoms and 5 boys. There are approximately 550 admissions (which are unusual among children seen in psychiatric per year to these wards, so that this group represented departments) were not prominent and in many were about 2% of the total. The age range of the 12 children overshadowed at the time of initial presentation by at the time of presenting symptoms was between 4 years commoner psychiatric symptoms such as aggressive 5 months and 10 years, with a mean age of 6 years 9 behaviour, temper tantrums, and symptoms of anxiety. months. A diagnosis of childhood schizophrenia or Psychological testing had been carried out in only a few childhood psychosis had previously been made in 2 of the children and no characteristic pattem of test children, conduct or behaviour disorder in 2 children, results had been noted. The psychiatric symptoms are emotional reaction or anxiety state in 4 children, and given in Table I in relation to final neurological hysterical reaction in 2 children. A psychiatrist, usually diagnosis. a child psychiatrist, had been involved in making the Psychiatric treatment was initiated in most cases, and psychiatric diagnosis in 10 cases, and an orthopaedic included the use of psychotropic medication, hypno- surgeon in 2 cases. Nearly all the children had seen suggestion, and analytically orientated psychotherapy. other consultants, usually paediatricians who had either Many of the children were living in stressful circum- concurred in the psychiatric diagnosis or been stances and various measures including parental responsible for making it in the first place. guidance, casework with parents, and environmental The behavioural symptoms which the children showed alterations were undertaken in an attempt to improve the and which led to a psychiatric diagnosis being made were symptoms. various, but the two main types of symptoms present Reconsideration of the psychiatric diagnosis occurred BLE I Psychiatric features of the 12 patients studied Age at Case psychiatric Sex Age at organic Psychiatric symptoms Psychiatric diagnosis Final neurological diagnosis no. diagnosis diagnosis copyright. (yr) (m) (yr) (m) 1 6 1 F 12 Walking with hunched Anxiety state Grade II astrocytoma of spinal shoulders and posturing cord of neck 2 7 M 9 7 Destructive; uninhibited Child psychosis Sex-linked diffuse cortical behaviour; flight of sclerosis with Addison's ideas; deteriorating disease school performance; inappropriate affect 3 10 F 14 Provocative behaviour with Behaviour disorder Congenital syphilis (tertiary http://adc.bmj.com/ considerable variability; phase) progressive loss of cognitive skills 4 5 7 M 6 5 Irritable; easily frustrated; Child psychosis Subacute sclerosing tantrums; deteriorating panencephalitis school performance 5 8 6 F 9 Destructive; aggressive; Conduct disorder Metachromatic leucodystrophy deteriorating school performance 6 8 5 M 9 Anorexia; weight loss; pain Hysterical reaction Cystic astrocytoma of spinal in the back cord on September 27, 2021 by guest. Protected 7 7 M 8 4 Aggressive and excitable Behaviour disorder Batten's disease behaviour; difficulty in seeing blackboard 8 7 9 F 8 8 Dragging left leg; hunching Anxiety state Osteoid-osteoma of L5 shoulders 9 10 7 F 14 10 Aggressive, destructive Behaviour disorder Degenerative CNS disease behaviour; loss of (idiopathic) cognitive skills 10 6 10 F 7 Pain in elbow, knees, Emotional disorder Polymyositis hands; difficulty climbing stairs 11 7 3 M 10 1 Unsteady gait; Anxiety state Friedreich's ataxia inco-ordination; tremor of hand 12 9 1 F 9 4 Limp left leg; fidgetiness Hysterical reaction Dystonia musculorum deformans Arch Dis Child: first published as 10.1136/adc.50.2.115 on 1 February 1975. Downloaded from Childhood organic neurological disease presenting as psychiatric disorder 117 for a number of reasons. The onset of epileptic seizures handicap in childhood is also more frequently was important in 3 children, and increased loss of power encountered in the general population (Rutter, in the limbs and loss of visual function prompted Tizard, and Whitmore, 1970b). Nevertheless, reconsideration in 4 cases. In some of the remaining children, though the symptoms had not changed, there can be no doubt that inappropriate psychiatric parental pressure for a further opinion, or diagnostic labelling can result in unnecessary distress, and the doubts in the psychiatric team were mainly responsible question arises how much of the diagnostic for re-evaluation of the situation. A paediatrician confusion reflected in the cases described above requested re-evaluation in 6 children, a general could have been avoided. practitioner in 2, a psychiatrist in 2, an orthopaedic Perhaps the most important point to make is that surgeon in one. In Case 12 a paediatric neurologist who the symptoms with which these children presented had originally concurred in the psychiatric diagnosis kept were unusual in child psychiatric practice. the case under review and eventually