Psychopharmacology of pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder: three case reports.

We present the treatment of three very young preschool patients (four- to five-year old) with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Two of the patients had severe ego-dystonic obsessions with sexual, aggressive, religious themes and forbidden thoughts, while the other one had contamination obsession and cleaning compulsions. Physical and neurological examination and laboratory work-up did not reveal any abnormalities. The symptoms resolved after sertaline monotherapy up to 50 mg/day and sertraline plus risperidone 0.5 mg/day (two cases) treatment. There is very limited data on the treatment of such young pediatric population of patients with OCD and, especially, the safety of using such psychotropic drugs in this special population.