Hyperserotonemia and Early Infantile Autism

Abstract

IN this issue of the Journal, Geller and his colleagues show that the administration of fenfluramine to three autistic children lowered platelet serotonin and was followed by improvement in clinical symptoms, social behavior, and IQ.¹ This finding may have important implications in the treatment of infantile autism and may cast much-needed new light on this bewildering disorder.The past 30 years have seen a marked shift in our perspective on infantile autism. In the 1950s autism was pronounced a psychologic disorder, the "rage reaction" of the child against the mother's unconscious wish that he or she did not exist. . . .