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Psychotropic drugs are frequently prescribed ‘off-label’ to children and adolescents and carry the risk of serious adverse drug reactions (sADR). We examined the frequency of sADRs of psychotropic drugs in pediatric inpatients and explored their potential preventability through following the recommendations of a web-based pediatric drug information system (PDIS). The potential socio-economic impacts of using this online system is also addressed. Routine clinical data from all inpatients treated in a child and adolescent psychiatry department between January 2017 and December 2018 were retrospectively examined for the occurrence of sADRs as defined by the European Medicines Agency. The preventability of the sADRs was assessed based on the information of the PDIS. Furthermore, the expected prolongation of the hospital stay due to sADRs was calculated as well as the associated treatment costs. The study was supported by the Innovation Fund of the Joint Federal Committee, grant number 01NVF16021. In total, 1036 patients were screened of whom 658 (63.5%) received psychopharmacological treatment. In 53 (8.1%) of these patients 54 sADRs were documented, of which 37 sADRs were identified as potentially preventable through PDIS. Mitigating sADR through PDIS would likely have prevented prolonged hospital stays and conferred considerable savings for health insurance companies. PDIS provides systematic and evidence-based information about pediatric psychopharmacotherapy and helps to prevent prescribing errors. Therefore, PDIS is a useful tool to increase drug therapy safety in child and adolescent psychiatry. Further prospective studies are needed to confirm the results.
Tetrahydroisoquinolines (TIQs) such as salsolinol (SAL), norsalsolinol (NSAL) and their methylated derivatives N-methyl-norsalsolinol (NMNSAL) and N-methyl-salsolinol (NMSAL), modulate dopaminergic neurotransmission and metabolism in the central nervous system. Dopaminergic neurotransmission is thought to play an important role in the pathophysiology of chronic tic disorders, such as Tourette syndrome (TS). Therefore, the urinary concentrations of these TIQ derivatives were measured in patients with TS and patients with comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (TS + ADHD) compared with controls. Seventeen patients with TS, 12 with TS and ADHD, and 19 age-matched healthy controls with no medication took part in this study. Free levels of NSAL, NMNSAL, SAL, and NMSAL in urine were measured by a two-phase chromatographic approach. Furthermore, individual TIQ concentrations in TS patients were used in receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis to examine the diagnostic value. NSAL concentrations were elevated significantly in TS [434.67 ± 55.4 nmol/l (standard error of mean = S.E.M.), two-way ANOVA, p < 0.0001] and TS + ADHD patients [605.18 ± 170.21 nmol/l (S.E.M.), two-way ANOVA, p < 0.0001] compared with controls [107.02 ± 33.18 nmol/l (S.E.M.), two-way ANOVA, p < 0.0001] and NSAL levels in TS + ADHD patients were elevated significantly in comparison with TS patients (two-way ANOVA, p = 0.017). NSAL demonstrated an AUC of 0.93 ± 0.046 (S.E.M) the highest diagnostic value of all metabolites for the diagnosis of TS. Our results suggest a dopaminergic hyperactivity underlying the pathophysiology of TS and ADHD. In addition, NSAL concentrations in urine may be a potential diagnostic biomarker of TS.