[Differential diagnosis between pervasive developmental disorder and schizophrenia].

Differential diagnosis between schizophrenia and pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) including Asperger's syndrome, needs evaluation of apparently similar symptoms among the two disorders and careful collection of information about developmental history of each patient. Some conditions that have been traditionally regarded as schizophrenia, seem to have overlapping parts with those of PDD. An example of them is schizophrenia--like symptoms observed occasionally in individuals with PDD. The relationship of the two disorders remains to be investigated. I present a case of an adolescent with early symptoms of schizophrenia, in whom there seems to have been PDD symptoms in his early childhood. The issue of the differential diagnosis of the two disorders is discussed on the basis of the case. It is sometimes difficult to diagnose PDD in mildest cases in adolescence or adulthood, presumably because they show subtle symptoms in their early childhood in terms of interpersonal relationships and caretakers of them are likely to fail to recognize their problems, which may cause difficulty in sufficient collection of information about their early childhood.