Aim: Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder. The S100 calcium binding protein B (S100B) is among the markers of astrocyte activation as well as brain damage. Herein, it was aimed to evaluate S100B levels to determine whether there is a relation with the severity of autism spectrum disorder and establish possible causes of different results among the studies in the literature from a psychiatric and biochemical perspective. Material and Methods: Twenty-five male children with autism spectrum disorder were included as the study group along with twenty-seven male children as the control group. The childhood autism rating scale and the autism behavior checklist were applied. Serum S100B protein levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results:The mean serum S100B level was 1008.61±171.34 pg/mL in the study group and 1060.14±182.83 pg/mL in the control group, and no statistically significant difference was found between the groups (p=0.300). Based on the childhood autism rating scale scores, 60% (n=15) of the children with autism spectrum disorder had severe autism, whereas 40% (n=10) had mild-to-moderate autism. There was no significant difference in terms of the serum S100B levels between the groups of autism spectrum disorder severity (p=0.935) or according to the autistic regression status (p=0.667). Conclusion: For S100B to be accepted as a reliable biomarker for autism spectrum disorder, more studies considering some factors with larger samples should be performed. Moreover, to understand the effect of biochemical methodology on the results, further studies are suggested on this subject.

Background: Epilepsy is an important disorder that is sometimes accompanied by inattention problems. This study explored the features of seizures in children with epilepsy, with or without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). , data records of children with epilepsy aged 5-18 years admitted to hospital were retrospectively collected. SPSS 17.0 was used for analyses and P < 0.05 was accepted as significant. Results: Of 301 patients with epilepsy, 32 of them had ADHD. Median age at diagnosis of epilepsy in the epilepsy + ADHD group was lower than in the epilepsy alone group (6 vs 8 years; z = À2.989, P = 0.003). The two groups were similar in terms of duration of epilepsy, seizure types and features of complicated versus non-complicated epilepsy, number of anti-epileptic drugs (AED) used (for all, P > 0.05). The epilepsy + ADHD group had a significantly higher prevalence of intellectual disability (31.3% vs 12.6%; v 2 (1) = 7.9, P = 0.014) and specific learning disorder (12.5% vs 1.9%; v 2 (1) = 11.1, P = 0.009) than the epilepsy alone group (v 2 (1) = 11.1, P = 0.009). ADHD medication use was identified in 68.8% of children in the epilepsy + ADHD group. Conclusion: Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder was identified in 11.8% of 5-18-year-old children (32/301) with epilepsy in a 1 year period. ADHD is more frequent in children with epilepsy in childhood (5-11 years of age). Epilepsy diagnosis is more frequent in younger children with ADHD. Children with epilepsy and ADHD, also have a significantly higher prevalence of intellectual disability and specific learning disorder. Younger children diagnosed with epilepsy should be carefully monitored for ADHD.

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Objective: Suicide attempts of adolescents have become one of the most common reasons among the admission to emergency departments for psychiatric reasons. The aim of this study is to identify sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, the diagnosis of depressive disorder and to assess the risk factors of adolescents who attempted suiside. Method: For this study, the patients that were admitted to Ankara Research and Training Hospital Emergency Department and were referred to Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient clinic due to suicide attempt between April 2018 and December 2018 were included. “Child Depression Inventory”, “Beck Depression Inventory “ and “Sociodemographic Data Form” were used for the study. It was also evaluated whether the patients were diagnosed with “Major Depressive Disorder” according to DSM-5 as a result of psychiatric examination. SPSS 24.0 was used in the analyzes. T-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test were used where appropriate. Results: Out of 38 patients who attempted suicide, 92,1% (n=35) were female. It was found that 92.1% (n=35) of the cases attempted suicide by overdose drug intake. Approximately half of the cases (44.7% n=17) reported the reason for suicide as “familial stressors”. As a result of the psychiatric evaluation, 42.1% (n=16) of the cases were diagnosed with “Major Depressive Disorder” according to DSM-5. Conclusion: Comprehensive evaluation of individual and environmental factors in adolescents who attempted suicide is considered important to identify the risk factors. Moreover strengthening the professional psychosocial support systems about increasing coping skills, gaining problem-solving skills of adolescents and informing families about approach to adolescents are thought that may contribute to protective measures.