Fluoxetine for persistent developmental stuttering.

Stuttering is a disturbance in the normal fluency and time patterning of speech. Developmental stuttering (DS), with or without associated psychiatric illness, is the most common form and includes all cases with gradual onset in childhood that are not the result of acquired brain damage. Persistent developmental stuttering (PDS) is DS that has not undergone spontaneous or speech therapy-induced remission. Adults in speech therapy behavioral programs will often show regression and even total relapse if they stop practicing. This case report deals with a patient of PDS who responded significantly to treatment with fluoxetine.