अमूर्त

Neuropsychiatric profile of a male child with tuberous sclerosis complex.

Eman A Zaky*, Rana AA Mahmoud

Tuberous sclerosis complex is a disorder that affects many systems of the body including the central nervous system, the cardiovascular system, the skin, the kidneys, the lungs, and the retina. Much neuropsychiatric comorbidity is recorded in individuals suffering from the disease. This is a report of a 12 year old boy suffering from tuberous sclerosis complex with chief complaints of generalized tonic-clonic fits that have started at the age of 3 years, cognitive impairment that was recognized when he was a toddler and disturbing behavioral problems over the last five to six years. His behavioral problems included hyperactivity, rage attacks, stubbornness, and physical and verbal aggression against his family members in addition to frequent exhibitionism and micturition in public. Furthermore, our patient experiences episodes of binge eating with purging behavior and vocal tics (grunting and throat clearing sounds). As the management of such behavior problems is a point of debate among concerned professionals and they are typically agonizing, handicapping, and disturbing for the patients and their caregivers, we reported this case to attract the attention of the primary care physicians and general pediatricians not to undermine their significant impact in comparison to the other serious physical problems such children and adolescents are usually suffering from.