Hyperkinetic disorder Attention-deficit/hyperactivity

The therapeutic indications for the psychomotor stimulants are quite limited. They are beneficial in the treatment of the hyperkinetic syndrome (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder with minimal brain dysfunction). This is generally a childhood disease characterized by hyperactivity, inability to concentrate, and impulsive behavior. Amphetamines and the more extensively used methylphenidate paradoxically are quite effective in calming a large proportion of children with this disorder. Pemoline Cylert) is also used in the treatment of attention deficit disorder with hyperkinetic behavior. The mechanism by which these compounds are effective in this disorder is not known. 

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is called hyperkinetic disorder in the ICD-10, which does not include the same subtypes as those in the DSM. According to the DSM-IV, ADHD is a broader definition than that given for HKD (hyperkinetic disorder) in the ICD-... 

Swanson, J., Castellanos, R, Murias, M., LaHoste, G., and Kennedy, J. (1998) Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Hyperkinetic Disorder, Curr. Opinion Neurobiol. 8,263-271. 

These criteria result in a much lower prevalence of hyperkinetic disorder, with estimates in the range of 1-5%, as compared to 5-10% in school-aged children for ADHD. In the ICD-10 there is a lower possibility of diagnosing children with attention deficit without hyperactivity. In the ICD-10 another diagnosis of other specified behavioral and emotional disorders with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence must be used. However, the combined condition of hyperkinetic disorder and conduct disorder is delineated under the diagnosis hyperkinetic conduct disorder. ... 

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