Autism
Conditions
Keywords
autism, neurologic and psychiatric disorders, rare disease
Brief summary
OBJECTIVES: I. Evaluate the efficacy of fluoxetine on social and language deficits, global severity and compulsive dimensions of children and adolescents with autism. II. Assess the effectiveness of this treatment regimen on neurocognitive deficits in this patient population. III. Compare the baseline compulsive severity and treatment outcome in these patients.
Detailed description
PROTOCOL OUTLINE: This is a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled, crossover study. All patients receive oral placebo daily during week 0. Patients are randomized to receive either oral fluoxetine or oral placebo daily on weeks 1-8. Patients then crossover to receive treatment on the other arm during weeks 12-20. Completion date provided represents the completion date of the grant per OOPD records
Interventions
DRUGfluoxetine
Sponsors
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
5 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
PROTOCOL ENTRY CRITERIA: --Disease Characteristics-- Meets diagnostic criteria for autism --Prior/Concurrent Therapy-- Other: * At least 3 months since prior electroconvulsive therapy * At least 1 month since prior investigational drugs or treatment with any drug known to cause major organ toxicity * At least 2 weeks since prior monoamine oxidase inhibitors * At least 6 weeks since prior long acting phenothiazines * At least 1 week since prior other psychotropic drugs * No prior fluoxetine of 20 mg/day for 6 weeks * At least 6 weeks since prior fluoxetine * No concurrent use of terfenadine (Seldane) or astemizole (Hismanal) * No concurrent electroconvulsive therapy or other psychotropic drugs (unless otherwise permitted) * Prior participation in another serotonin reuptake inhibitor trial allowed --Patient Characteristics-- Hematopoietic: No significant hematopoietic disease Hepatic: No prior or concurrent liver disease Renal: No prior or concurrent kidney disease Cardiovascular: * No significant cardiovascular disease * No abnormal EKG Neurological: * No prior seizure disorder or high risk development of seizures * No prior cerebrovascular disease * No prior brain trauma Other: * Not pregnant or nursing * Negative pregnancy test * No unstable major medical illness or systemic disease * No moderate or severe mental retardation and motor deficits (IQ less than 50) * No family history of bipolar disorder * No prior or concurrent other mental disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, schizoaffective, organic, or bipolar disorders) * No significant autoaggressive behavior or serious suicidal risk * No prior or concurrent gastrointestinal conditions * No unstable endocrine disease (e.g., hypo or hyperthyroidism) * No prior or concurrent malignancy * Must be able to tolerate tapering of psychoactive medication * No history of hypersensitivity or severe side effects to fluoxetine or other serotonin reuptake inhibitors * No history of severe personality disorder or noncompliance
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed