The course of Tourette's disorder: A literature review

With the goal of evaluating the available literature on the course of Toure tte's disorder, we conducted a systematic literature search through electro nic databases for pertinent scientific articles in English with a minimum o f 20 subjects. We also examined bibliographies of papers identified in this manner for additional sources. We found only 16 articles; most consisted o f retrospective reports on treated samples. Overall, the available literatu re suggests that Tourette's disorder follows a remitting course in a sizeab le number of individuals. Little has been published regarding predictors of remission or persistence. More work is needed using longitudinal prospecti ve studies to better define the course and outcome of Tourette's disorder.