Risperidone and liver function tests in children and adolescents: A short term prospective study

WOS: 00025498780054

Posttraumatic stress disorder and risk factors in parents of children with a cancer diagnosis

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in parents of children with cancer. Five questionnaires were administered to 104 parents, including a sociodemographic questionnaire, a traumatic events check list, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV PTSD and Major Depressive Disorder modules, and the self-rating instrument General Health Questionnaire-12. The prevalence of PTSD was 34.6%. The statistically significant tendency to develop PTSD were found in the female gender, better educational status, death of a loved one, previous history of psychiatric disorder, having a child with poorer prognosis, and the presence of radiotherapy in child's treatment. The vulnerable parents must receive psychosocial support

Risperidone and liver function tests in children and adolescents: A short-term prospective study

Objective: Revealing of unknown adverse effects of atypical antipsychotics on pediatric population may take a long period of time. The purpose of this prospective study is to document changes in the liver function tests (LFTs) associated with risperidone usage in a group of children and adolescents. Method: Study subjects consist of 120 youths with ages ranging from 3-17 years. For this study, patients' baseline and follow-up weight and hepatobiliary function tests including alanine aminotransferases(ALT) and aspartat aminotransferases (AST), gamma gluatamyl transerase (GGT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and serum bilirubin levels were measured before and after the treatment period of one month. Results: Only one male patient's ALT levels increased up to three-fold and AST levels increased up to two-fold of the basal levels. First month mean levels of liver enzymes and billuribin of the patients were significantly higher than the baseline. Sixty-three patients (52.5%) showed an asymptomatic increase in the liver enzymes and/or billuribin levels of the first month of this study. Weight gain was observed in 58 patients (57.4%). There was no significant association between changes in weight and liver enzymes and billuribin levels. Conclusion: We found clinically non significant liver function test abnormalities mostly in the form of ALP elevation in 52.5% and marked liver enzymes elevation in 0.8% of risperidone-treated subjects. However use of concomitant medications and variations in age are the limitations of this study. These findings suggest that risperidone treatment in the short term may lead to liver function changes in children and adolescents. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved