Tourette Syndrome and Chronic Tic Disorders: The Clinical Spectrum Beyond Tics

Publication date: Available online 9 June 2017 Source:International Review of Neurobiology Author(s): Davide Martino, Christos Ganos, Tamara M. Pringsheim The clinical surveillance and active management of Tourette syndrome (TS) and other primary chronic tic disorders cannot be limited to tics, as these patients manifest a spectrum of sensory-, behavioral-, cognitive-, and sleep-related problems that have a major impact on their functioning and quality of life, influencing enormously clinical decision making on a routine basis. The sensory phenomena of primary tic disorders consist of premonitory urges and heightened sensitivity to external somatosensory and interoceptive stimuli. Recent evidence suggests that raised interoceptive awareness may be related to the classical premonitory urges associated with tics. The burden of behavioral comorbidities is very important in determining the degree of disability of patients with primary tic disorders. Only 10%–15% of these patients presents exclusively with a tic disorder. Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) are common in TS, and the clinical distinction between compulsions and complex tics may be difficult in some cases. “Tic-related OCD” represents a phenomenologically characteristic subtype of OCD, also associated with “just right” phenomena. Probably the presence of comorbid attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is the main determinant of cognitive dysfunction in TS patients and influences heavily also the r...
Source: International Review of Neurobiology - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research