Surgical Residency Training in Developing Countries: West African College of Surgeons as a Case Study.

Background: In 1904, William Halsted introduced the present model of surgical residency program which has been adopted worldwide. In some developing countries, where surgical residency training programs are new, some colleges have introduced innovations to the Halsted's original concept of surgical residency training. These include 1) primary examination, 2) rural surgical posting, and 3) submission of dissertation for final certification.

Seeing double: sertraline and diplopia: a case report.

Objective: To describe the first case of sertraline-induced diplopia.

Method: Medline and PubMed data search using the words sertraline, Zoloft, diplopia, double vision. A case summary of a patient who developed diplopia from sertraline.

The use of clonidine in the treatment of nightmares among patients with co-morbid PTSD and traumatic brain injury.

Objective: To describe the successful treatment of PTSD associated nightmares in two patients with PTSD.

Case Summaries: The report of the successful use of clonidine to treat PTSD associated nightmares among two Veterans following combat exposure.

Discussion: Clonidine, a centrally acting alpha-agonist agent used to treat hypertension, stimulates alpha-adrenoreceptors in the brain stem.

Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus presenting as bipolar I disorder with catatonic features.

Background: The American College of Rheumatology has defined 19 neuropsychiatric syndromes associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems. Neuropsychiatric manifestations of lupus (NPSLE) have been shown to occur in up to 95% of pediatric patients with SLE.

Objective: The authors describe a 15-year-old African American young woman with a family history positive for bipolar I disorder and schizophrenia, who presented with symptoms consistent with an affective disorder.

Valacyclovir-induced psychosis and manic symptoms in an adolescent young woman with genital herpes simplex.

Background: Genital herpes is a common and painful infection. Its prevalence within the United States is estimated to be 40 million to 60 million people. Three medications, acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famciclovir, have been shown to reduce the duration and severity of the disease.

Aripiprazole and delirium.

Background: Delirium is a common condition frequently seen in consultation-liaison psychiatry. It is especially common among medically compromised patients and is an indicator of the severity of the medical illness. In addition, it is associated with a higher morbidity, mortality or longer hospitalization.

Aripiprazole in the treatment of delirium.

Objective: Delirium is a common condition frequently seen in consultation-liaison psychiatry. It is especially common among medically compromised patients, and is an indicator of the severity of the medical illness. In addition, it is associated with a higher morbidity, mortality, and longer hospitalization.

An unusual foreign body ingestion in a schizophrenic patient: case report.

The topic of foreign body ingestion has received extensive coverage in the areas of surgery, emergency medicine, and pediatrics. A subset of this topic, the intentional ingestion of foreign bodies, however, is much less common, and requires special evaluation and management. Here, we report a case of ingestion of a rolled, metal tuna can lid in a male prison inmate previously diagnosed with depression and paranoid schizophrenia.

Charles Bonnet syndrome: visual hallucination and multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a fairly common condition that affects approximately 350,000 people in the United States. It is associated with various neuropsychiatric symptoms including cognitive and behavioral symptoms. However, visual hallucinations are rare in multiple sclerosis without the presence of cognitive deficits.

Drug addiction in sickle cell disease: case report.

There has been widespread speculation that patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) may become drug dependent if their painful crisis is treated with narcotics. However, there has been no scientific evidence to support this assertion. Paradoxically, individuals suffering from sickle cell disease who are not adequately treated may develop an addiction to narcotics due to self-medication to treat their pain.

Comparing the side effect profile of the atypical antipsychotics.

Typical antipsychotics exert their effect by blocking post-synaptic dopaminergic receptors; blockade of the mesolimbic and mesocortical pathways are therapeutic and help reduce positive psychotic symptoms but blockade of the nigro-striatal pathway produces extrapyramidal side effects (EPSE). Post clozapine, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the use of four newer atypical antipsychotics; risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine and ziprasidone for the treatment of schizophrenia. Because of their dual serotonin and dopamine receptor blocking abilities, atypical antipsychotics have greater efficacy (especially for negative symptoms) and fewer EPSE when compared to the typical antipsychotics.

ECT in the medically ill elderly: a case report.

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is well recognized as an effective treatment for depression. However, it is not often used among the elderly due to increased co-morbid medical problems and fear of complications. We present here the case of an 88-year-old man with a history of depression and co-morbid medical illness.

Sickle cell disease and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a common condition among African Americans. It is associated with severe complications including severe pain in the chest, back, abdomen, or extremities. Individuals with SCD also have a reduced life span.