Abstract # 1786 The PsychoNeuroInflammatory related Signs and Severity Inventory (PNISSI)

Abstract

The symptoms of Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS) and other putative psychoneuroimmunological disorders are often misinterpreted and misdiagnosed in clinical settings because of the diversity of symptoms and the clinicians’ unfamiliarity with these “new” disorders. Most of these symptoms are of psychiatric nature. Not only the current psychoneuroimmunological symptoms, but also the course and severity in relation to the premorbid state of the patient should be clarified. There is a need for an instrument that instructs the clinician/psychiatrist to ask relevant questions on the patients’ background, to make observations and to perform simple tests of symptoms and signs supporting the diagnosis. Also such an instrument should provide diagnostic algorithms for different psychoneuroimmunological disorders. A thorough four hours interview was carried out in 2015–2016 with 52 patients (children and adults) that had been assessed for PANDAS or Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) in Sweden. Our experiences from this process, supplemented with symptoms and signs related to other psychoneuroimmunological disorders described in the literature, were compiled into a self-report form and a structured clinical interview. The PsychoNeuroimmunology Symptom and Severity Inventory (PNISSI) will be presented here.