ANNOUNCEMENT
PANDAS Physicians Network Welcomes Dr. Susan Swedo as New Chief Science Officer
PPN maintains the most up to date clinical guidelines for PANDAS and PANS. Guidelines will always be based on published information and further refined and explained by the Diagnostics & Therapeutics Committee.
PPN Treatment Options aim to provide the breadth of potential therapies for PANDAS and PANS, updated for the latest research and experience of clinicians. There are a variety of treatment options available.
“Seeing Your First Child with PANDAS/PANS” is a medical guide consisting of: overview and current theories, PANS diagnostic criteria, PANS workup recommendations, and setting medical and family expectations.
PANS/PANDAS RESEARCH UPDATES
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PPN’s comprehensive collection of published works includes the original published studies from the NIMH team that first reported on the PANDAS condition as well as the primary additional studies that followed. The library consists of a synopsis and critique of each study.
Differential binding of antibodies in PANDAS patients to cholinergic interneurons in the striatum
New research shows that antibodies from children with PANDAS bind preferentially to a specific population of neurons in the brain, the cholinergic interneurons of the striatum. These interneurons have previously been implicated in Tourette’s syndrome. According to the study, “Antibody-mediated dysregulation of striatal cholinergic interneurons may be a locus of pathology in PANDAS. Future clarification of the functional consequences of this specific binding may identify new opportunities for intervention in children with this condition.”
Psychotic symptoms in youth with Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) may reflect syndrome severity and heterogeneity
“Over 1/3 of children with PANS experienced transient hallucinations. They were more impaired than those without psychotic symptoms, but showed no differences in disease progression. This difference may point toward heterogeneity in PANS.”
PANS/PANDAS CONSORTIUM GUIDELINES:
JOURNAL OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
The PANS/PANDAS Research Consortium diagnostic guidelines includes:
► Consensus Statement for clinical evaluation
► Original articles on the PANS phenotype, IVIG, and Therapeutic Plasma Apheresis
The PANS/PANDAS Research Consortium treatment guidelines include:
► Antimicrobials and secondary prophylaxis
► Immunomodulating therapies based on symptom severity
► Management of symptoms while simultaneously addressing the instigating processes (which includes infections and inflammatory disease)
ABOUT US
PANDAS Physicians Network is an organization that is dedicated to helping medical professionals understand PANDAS and PANS through real-time information and networking. PPN Guidelines for Diagnostics and Therapeutics are developed by PPN committees and special advisors from the top academic medical institutions in the United States, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Columbia, Georgetown, NIH, and NIMH. Members of this elite group have worked with, treated, or studied the patients or aspects of the disorder. Because PANDAS and PANS are interdisciplinary disorders, all the relevant disciplines are represented on the PPN committees and the special advisory council.
PPN NEWS
MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS: BECOME A MEMBER OF PPN
It’s free to become a member of the PPN. Benefits include:
► Communicate and ask questions to your peers
► Receive email alerts on new research, guidelines, and treatment protocols
► Option to be recognized as a practitioner who works with PANS/PANDAS patients
► Receive occasional members only benefits
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CHANGE THE COURSE OF MENTAL ILLNESS WITHIN A GENERATION
PPN’s goal is to help medical professionals understand, diagnose and treat PANS (Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) and PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections) by providing to them quality research, diagnostic and treatment tools. Your donation dollars will not only help maintain PPN’s tools, but will help further prove that the immune system can cause such psychological distress.