PANDAS Disease, a Well Understood Disorder with a big Misdiagnosis Problem
PANDAS is an acronym for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal infection. It is an autoimmune condition initially triggered by strep infections, which disrupts a child’s normal brain function. PANDAS occurs when the immune system produces antibodies, intended to fight an infection, and instead mistakenly attacks the basal ganglia in the child`s brain by a mechanism known as molecular mimicry. This type of Strep shares an epitope with the basal ganglia, which is directly involved in movement disorders such as tics. An epitope is the part of the antigen that binds to a specific antigen receptor on the surface of a B cell. So the immune system basically thinks the fight is still on even after the infection is over. This easy to diagnose and still misdiagnosed disorder takes a toll on the patient`s life, as the patient is left with severe movement and behavioral problems (tics, ocd symptoms, etc)
Citation: Rodrigo M. “PANDAS Disease, a Well Understood Disorder with a big Misdiagnosis Problem”. SVOA Neurology 2:3(2021) Pages 58-59.
