[Early developmental aspects of Tourette syndrome]

Tourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by a combination of multiple motor and vocal tics. It is frequently associated with other manifestations which are typical, though not obligatory for the diagnosis. Some of these manifestations may appear in early childhood and cause developmental disorders. Our observations in 2 families, in which an early developmental symptom was later found to be an associated manifestation of Tourette syndrome, led us to investigate our other patients with this syndrome. In all, 16 patients were studied. Early developmental disabilities, such as speech and language disorder, learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, motor clumsiness or behavioral problems were found in 8. An epidemiological survey is needed to determine the prevalence of the association of Tourette syndrome with developmental manifestations in early childhood.