Background

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, our colleagues working at eight different Tourette syndrome (TS) clinics globally have witnessed a parallel pandemic of young people aged 12 to 25 years (almost exclusively girls and women) presenting with the rapid onset of complex motor and vocal tic-like behaviors.¹ In most cases, these behavioral patterns are consistent with a functional neurological disorder. There have been striking commonalities in the phenomenology of these tic-like behaviors observed across our centers in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia. The aim of this viewpoint is to help clinicians recognize patients with this disorder and distinguish them from patients with TS. We begin by describing the clinical phenomenology and demographic characteristics of youth with rapid onset functional tic-like behaviors (FTLBs) using illustrative data from the Tic Disorders Clinical Registry at the Calgary Tourette and Pediatric Movement Disorders Clinic. We then discuss our shared experiences across our eight centers and provide preliminary viewpoints on the pathophysiology and treatment of this complex disorder.

中文翻译：

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COVID-19 大流行期间年轻女性的快速发作功能性抽动样行为

背景

自 COVID-19 大流行开始以来，我们在全球八家不同的图雷特综合征 (TS) 诊所工作的同事目睹了 12 至 25 岁的年轻人（几乎完全是女孩和女性）的平行流行，他们表现出复杂的快速发作运动和声音抽动样行为。¹在大多数情况下，这些行为模式与功能性神经障碍一致。在我们在加拿大、美国、英国、德国和澳大利亚的中心观察到的这些抽动样行为的现象学具有惊人的共性。这一观点的目的是帮助临床医生识别患有这种疾病的患者并将他们与 TS 患者区分开来。我们首先使用来自卡尔加里图雷特和儿科运动障碍诊所的抽动障碍临床登记处的说明性数据描述具有快速发作功能性抽动样行为 (FTLB) 的青年的临床现象学和人口统计学特征。然后，我们讨论了我们在八个中心的共同经历，并就这种复杂疾病的病理生理学和治疗提供了初步观点。