TY - JOUR A2 - Motta, Sergio AU - Rajgor, Amarkumar Dhirajlal AU - Hakim, Navid Akhtar AU - Ali, Sanah AU - Darr, Adnan PY - 2018 DA - 2018/02/21 TI - Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Group A Beta-Haemolytic Streptococcal Infection: An Indication for Tonsillectomy? A Review of the Literature SP - 2681304 VL - 2018 AB - Background. Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infection (PANDAS) is the acute onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms following group A beta-haemolytic streptococcal infection. The aetiology remains elusive. However, with group A streptococcus being the most common bacterial cause of tonsillitis, surgical intervention in the form of tonsillectomy has often been considered as a potential therapy. Methods. A MEDLINE® search was undertaken using keywords “PANDAS” or “paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcus” combined with “tonsillectomy”. Results. Six case reports and 3 case series met the inclusion criteria. Demesh et al. (case series) reported a dramatic reduction in neuropsychiatric symptom severity in the patient cohort undergoing tonsillectomy. Two case series suggest that there is no association between tonsillectomy and resolution of PANDAS. Conclusion. Due to the lack of uniform data and sporadic reports, tonsillectomy should be carefully adopted for the treatment of this disorder. In particular, tonsillectomies/adenoidectomies to alleviate neuropsychiatric symptoms should be avoided until more definitive evidence is at our disposal. This review highlights the importance of a potential collaborative prospective study. SN - 1687-9201 UR - https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/2681304 DO - 10.1155/2018/2681304 JF - International Journal of Otolaryngology PB - Hindawi KW - ER -