Autism Spectrum Disorder

SEATTLE — Sarah J. Spence, MD, PhD, shared tips on differentiating pediatric neurological conditions with overlapping symptoms, at the 2022 American Academy of Neurology annual meeting.

The amygdala, which is enlarged in children aged 2 years who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, appears to accelerate in growth in the first 6 to 12 months of life, researchers reported in The American Journal of Psychiatry.

Balovaptan did not improve socialization and communication difficulties in adults with autism spectrum disorder, according to results of a phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial published in Lancet Psychiatry.

Adults with autism spectrum disorder from underrepresented populations were more likely than white adults with ASD to have cooccurring conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, according to a recent analysis of Medicaid data.

In 2018, one in 44 children aged 8 years in the United States was identified with autism spectrum disorder, according to an analysis published Thursday in MMWR.

Boys with autism spectrum disorder who received 10 mg/kg of a suramin IV infusion known as PAX-101 experienced greater improvements in symptoms than those who received 20 mg/kg of the same treatment or placebo, data show.

Telehealth may be a useful tool in assessing infants for autism spectrum disorder within their first year of life, potentially expanding access to care and early evaluation services, according to findings published in Autism.

Researchers reported that prenatal use of antipsychotics was not associated with risks for adverse outcomes in children — specifically, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, preterm birth or being born small for gestational age.

Preterm and early term birth were associated with a significantly increased risk for autism spectrum disorder in both boys and girls in a study that included more than 4 million children born over a 40-year period in Sweden.

Novel bacterial markers predicted autism spectrum disorder in children and showed persistent underdevelopment of the gut microbiota among these children, according to data published in Gut.