Target Symptoms, Not Diagnosis, Should Guide PDD Drug Therapy. (Neurobiologic Rationale)

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NEW YORK -- The pharmacotherapy of children and adolescents with pervasive developmental disorder is best guided by target symptoms, rather than diagnosis, Dr. Robert Hendren said at a psychopharmacology update sponsored by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

This approach is more solidly grounded in neurodevelopmental principles and cuts through often knotty issues of classification, said Dr. Hendren, chief of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at University of California, Davis, Medical Center, Sacramento.

Early identification and treatment of children with pervasive developmental disorder (also known as autism spectrum disorders) …