What PANDAS/PANS can teach us about autism (CME track/practitioner registrants only)

What PANDAS/PANS can teach us about autism

 

            PANDAS/PANS is very common in the autistic population. The presentation of PANS in the infant aged 0-3 years can be indistinguishable from autistic regression. Recently, we have observed a cluster of patients, all male, with late onset (normal prior to age 4) autistic regression which would have been classified as childhood disintegrative disorder (CDD; Heller dementia). Our current understanding of PANS is briefly reviewed, along with a new model of autism involving PANS superimposed on a specific genetic substratum.

 

            Specific learning objectives:

 

1.     

Participants will understand PANDAS, PANS and the difference between them

2.     

Participants will understand why PANS is so common in the autistic population

3.     

Participants will understand CDD and how PANS can present as CDD

4.     

Participants will understand how PANS research can cross-fertilize autism research

Rosario Trifiletti, MD, PhD