Hand stereotypies distinguish Rett syndrome from autism disorder

Abstract

Background: Rett syndrome (RTT) and autism disorder (AD) are 2 neurodevelopmental disorders of early life that share phenotypic features, one being hand stereotypies. Distinguishing RTT from AD often represents a challenge, and given their distinct long-term prognoses, this issue may have far-reaching implications. With the advances in genetic testing, the contribution of clinical manifestations in distinguishing RTT from AD has been overlooked.

Methods: A comparison of hand stereotypies in 20 children with RTT and 20 with AD was performed using detailed analyses of videotaped standardized observations.

Results: Striking differences are observed between RTT and AD children. In RTT, hand stereotypies are predominantly complex, continuous, localized to the body midline, and involving mouthing. Conversely, in AD children, hand stereotypies are simple, bilateral, intermittent, and often involving objects.

Conclusions: These results provide important clinical signs useful to the differential diagnosis of RTT versus AD, especially when genetic testing for RTT is not an option.