Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C Gillberg

Publications and source records attributed to C Gillberg.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Infantile autism: diagnosis and treatment.

This article reviews recent developments in the diagnosis and treatment of infantile autism. Autism is currently conceptualized as a behavioural syndrome with multiple biological aetiologies. A diagnosis of infantile autism implies that a thorough neurobiological investigation is called for. The core psychological deficit necessary and sufficient to cause central autism symptoms is gradually being defined. The multiple aetiologies of autism will lead to multiple treatment in the future. At the present stage structured education and behaviour modification provide the cornerstones of any treatment programme.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1990

Rett syndrome and the autistic disorders.

Rett syndrome is a disorder noted to date only in females and characterized by a pervasive developmental disability following apparently normal early infancy. In addition to gait difficulties, stereotypic hand movements, and loss of communication and purposeful hand skills, autistic-like behavior is an early sign that often results in misdiagnosis. Despite these significant clinical abnormalities, neuropathologic features are modest, and no consistent laboratory abnormality or diagnostic marker has been identified. The current status of research in RS is considered within the context of autism and other disorders in which autistic features may occur, such as the fragile X syndrome. The concept of autism as neurobiologically based behavior is developed. As such, autism is regarded as an umbrella category containing an ever-expanding list of specific disorders.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1989

Chromosome findings in twins with early-onset autistic disorder.

In a twin study of autistic disorder, chromosome analyses were carried out in nine pairs of monozygotic (MZ) twins, two pairs of dizygotic (DZ) twins, one set of MZ triplets, one single twin from a MZ pair, and seven single twins from DZ pairs. All but one of the MZ sets were concordant for autistic disorder; all DZ pairs were discordant. Fragile X(q)(27.3) was found in one pair of MZ twins and in MZ triplets, i.e., in 9% of the population with autistic disorder. A marker chromosome of unknown origin was detected in a male twin with autistic disorder from a discordant DZ pair.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1989

Symptoms in the first two years of life. A preliminary population study of infantile autism.

A population sample of autistic children (n = 26) were compared retrospectively with age- and sex-matched mentally retarded children (n = 20) and age- and sex-matched population-representative children (n = 25) on a 130-item questionnaire to the mother concerning characteristic features of the child's behaviour in the first 2 years of life. Thirteen items discriminated clearly between the groups. The results are discussed in the context of early screening for autism.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1989

Fenfluramine treatment of twenty children with autism.

The effects of fenfluramine were examined on 20 children with autism over a 48-week period utilizing a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover design. Blood and urine samples and psychological tests (Griffith's Developmental Scales and Real Life Rating Scale) were obtained at each crossover period. The only significant improvement was a decrease in abnormal motor behavior. We did not find any significant improvement in intellectual functioning or any correlation between good clinical response and low baseline serotonin levels or high baseline IQ. Serotonin decreased 53% after fenfluramine treatment and rebounded to a level 35% higher than baseline following a placebo period. Fenfluramine and the active metabolite norfenfluramine were determined in plasma samples.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1989

The borderland of autism and Rett syndrome: five case histories to highlight diagnostic difficulties.

Four girls and one boy with pervasive developmental disorders are described. They all met DSM-III-R criteria for autistic disorder and all also showed many if not all the symptoms currently considered essential for a diagnosis of Rett syndrome. It is concluded that there is considerable overlap between the two disorders and that the symptomatic similarities might mirror common pathophysiological abnormalities at the brainstem level.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Abnormalities of growth in 7- to 18-year-old psychiatric patients.

The growth curves of all nonimmigrant school-age children living in one district of Malmö, Sweden and treated at the Department of Child and Youth Psychiatry during 1983 were investigated. The study group consisted of 40 children. Twenty-five of these children (63%) showed abnormal growth compared to 6 children (15%) with abnormal growth in an age-and sex-matched nonpsychiatric control population (p less than 0.001). A majority of the children with abnormal growth exhibited deviant growth within the first 4 years of life, usually several years before showing any psychiatric symptoms. These results, if borne out by additional studies, may have important clinical applications in the fields of developmental medicine and child psychiatry.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

A twin study of autism in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.

The Nordic countries were screened for the occurrence of cases of autism with a same-sexed twin under age 25 years. Twenty-one pairs (11 monozygotic and 10 dizygotic) of twins and one set of identical triplets were found and extensively examined. The concordance for autism by pair was 91% in the monoygotic and 0% in the dizygotic pairs. The corresponding concordances for cognitive disorder were 91% and 30%, respectively. In most of the pairs discordant for autism, the autistic twin had more perinatal stress. The results lend support for the notion that autism sometimes has a hereditary component and that perinatal stress is involved in some cases.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Asperger syndrome--some epidemiological considerations: a research note.

Asperger syndrome has so far been the subject of very little systematic empirical inquiry. This paper reviews those few studies in the literature and some data from a new Swedish study which has reported findings pertinent to estimations of Asperger syndrome prevalence. It is concluded that among children with normal intelligence, rates of 10-26 per 10,000 children are minimum figures. Another 0.4 per 10,000 Swedish teenagers showed the combination of Asperger syndrome and mild mental retardation.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Asperger syndrome in 23 Swedish children.

Twenty-three Swedish children aged five to 18 years who fulfilled specific criteria for Asperger syndrome were examined and compared with an age- and IQ-matched group with infantile autism. The boy:girl ratio was 10:1. Less than 10 per cent were mentally retarded and 17 per cent were of above-average intelligence. Apart from motor clumsiness (very common in the Asperger group) and reduced optimality in the prenatal and perinatal periods (more common in the autistic group), there was very little in the clinical or neurobiological backgrounds to suggest a clear distinction between Asperger syndrome and infantile autism.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Children with preschool minor neurodevelopmental disorders. IV: Behaviour and school achievement at age 13.

A cohort of children with deficits in attention, motor control and perception at seven years, drawn from a total population sample of such children in Göteborg, Sweden, was compared at 13 years with a group of normal children with regard to behaviour and school achievement. The index group showed persisting high rates of severe behavioural problems, as judged by teachers', parents' and self-rating questionnaires. None had been treated with stimulants or other drugs to reduce the symptoms of their neurodevelopmental disorders. It seems that these children's problems were slightly less in the early teen years than they were at 10 years, but the rates were still much in excess of those in the comparison group.

Achievement↗
PubMed1989

Children with preschool minor neurodevelopmental disorders. V: Neurodevelopmental profiles at age 13.

A cohort of children diagnosed at age seven as suffering from deficits in attention, motor control and perception was compared at age 13 with a group of children without such problems. More than two-thirds of the index children no longer had any clearly detectable motor problems at 13, but they still had significantly prolonged complex reaction times. These results suggest that children with these deficits in the early school years have a fair biological prognosis by the early teen years.

Achievement↗
PubMed1989

Autistic behaviour in Moebius syndrome.

Seventeen children and young adults with Moebius syndrome were examined with a view to finding symptoms of autism. Some 40% of the group showed all or many of the symptoms typical of autistic disorder. The high frequency of autistic symptoms in Moebius syndrome might be a marked overrepresentation and could be suggestive of a common underlying neurobiological deficit at the brainstem level.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Anorexia nervosa in a Swedish urban region. A population-based study.

The total population of 15-year-olds in Göteborg, Sweden, were screened in 1985 for anorexia nervosa using brief questionnaires, growth charts and individual school nurse reports. An accumulated frequency of anorexia of 0.84% for girls up to and including 15 years of age was obtained, with 85% of the cases fulfilling DSM-III-R criteria. Boys were affected just over one-tenth as often as girls. The frequency of anorexia nervosa appeared to be much higher in private than in comprehensive schools. The peak age of onset seemed to be 14 years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Epilepsy in autism and autisticlike conditions. A population-based study.

In a population-based study from Göteborg, Sweden, of infantile autism in children under age 10 years, we found epilepsy in 20% of the cases. Twice as many children among those with "autisticlike conditions" had epilepsy. All types of epilepsy were seen. Of the children in the study who had epilepsy, almost 75% (10/14) had psychomotor epilepsy. The association between autism-autisticlike conditions and epilepsy seemed to be with the behavioral disorder and not with the often concomitant mental retardation. Abnormalities evidenced on electroencephalograms seemed to be generated from the temporal regions and phylogenetically older parts of the brain in a majority of the cases.

Autistic Disorder↗