[Childhood psychoses and organic pathology: results of a study of 144 cases]

Abstract

The records of 144 patients of Child Psychiatry Units of Alsace (France), with childhood psychosis (CP) or pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) have been systematically screened for previous or associated pathological events. Half of the children studied have been or are still affected by severe somatic disorders, but none of the diagnostic subcategories (referring to DSM III or CFTMEA) appeared significantly more frequently affected. In our population, the severity of organic disorders was positively correlated with: the age of the mother: more severe cases were reported when the mother was younger than 20 or older than 40 at the moment of childbirth; pathological events during pregnancy; early mother-child separation during the first year of life. The most frequent associated disorders however (neonatal pathology 45% of the cases, epilepsy 17% of the cases, neurological or neurosensorial pathology 15% of the cases) were associated neither with a specific diagnostic nor with a clinical and social specific pattern. The only statistically significant correlation was found between neurological pathology and a relatively low level of cognitive and social functioning. All these results were confirmed by multivariate statistical analysis. A main component analysis integrating all quantified data concerning organic pathology was performed: it emphasizes the independence of the different pathological events reported. The factorial analysis including the clinical, diagnostical and somatic event-related data failed to show any statistical profile associating functional features of the children with any particular previous or existing somatic disorders. Our results suggest that a history of organic pathological events is frequent not only in autistic disorders but in any kind of PDD or early CP - associated with moderate to severe mental retardation, in most cases of our study. However, this does not demonstrate that this type of pathological events constitute the direct and unique cause of PDD and CP: the concept of the aetiology of these severe diseases must take account of other factors - such as relational disruption -, also frequently seen in these children.