Treatment of late onset autism as a consequence of probable
autommune processes related to chronic bacterial infection.
Matarazzo EB.
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
eneidam_br@yahoo.com.br
Two cases are described of children who at first developed normally, but
before the age of three developed autistic symptoms following the reactivation
of a chronic oto-rhinolaryngologic infection. The clinical and laboratory data
of the cases support the aetiological hypothesis of an autoimmune process.
Adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), prescribed in the first months of the
disease, cured one case. The other patient, who was two years old when
autistic symptoms appeared and was treated only six years later, showed a
partial but definitive improvement with the immunosuppressive treatment. This
report proposes that reactivation of a chronic bacterial infection be included
among the aetiologies of Late Onset Autism, and demonstrates that, when the
aetiological hypothesis of an autoimmune process based on clinical and
laboratory data is considered, an immunosuppressive treatment, particularly
with ACTH, can be very effective and also safe.
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