In this narrative review, our objective was to describe the post-streptococcal neuropsychiatric syndromes and to discuss the possible pathogenetic mechanisms involved in their clinical expression. Recently, several movement disorders, such as tics, dystonia, and parkinsonism, and psychiatric disorders like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit hyperativity disorder (ADHD), are being considered part of a putative spectrum of post-streptococcal infection disorders. The term PANDAS (pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcus) has been introduced to describe a subset of patients with these diagnoses in which onset of symptoms or symptom exacerbations are related to streptococcal infection. However the critical analysis of clinical and laboratory data does not support the hypothesis of an extended spectrum of post-streptococcal neuropsychiatric disorders. Only for Sydenham chorea there is consistent evidence for a post-streptococcal autoimmune mediated pathogenesis.
Sydenham chorea; Tourette syndrome; obsessive-compulsive disorder; PANDAS; streptococcal infection
