Sertraline treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder: efficacy and tolerability of a rapid titration regimen.

The objective of this study was to compare in a single blind manner, over a period of 12 weeks, the efficacy and tolerability of two different titration regimens of sertraline in the treatment of OCD: 150 mg/day reached at day five from the beginning of therapy (rapid titration regimen) versus 150 mg/day reached at day 15 from the beginning (slow titration regimen). Patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of OCD and a Y-BOCS greater or equal to 16 were randomly assigned to receive one of the two dosing regimens; an upper target dose of 150 mg/day was selected on the basis of a review of mean dosages used in flexible-dose sertraline studies. The primary efficacy measure was the Y-BOCS, which was completed at baseline and every 2 weeks.

An exploratory study on obsessive-compulsive disorder with and without a familial component: are there any phenomenological differences?

Familial studies on obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) have suggested that OCD is a heterogeneous condition, with some cases being familial and others being isolated cases in their families. Nevertheless, no studies evaluated whether there are clinical differences between OCD cases with and without a familial component. The current report presents data on the prevalence of OCD in first-degree relatives of OCD probands and compares phenomenological characteristics of familial and non-familial OCD types.

Primary breast cancer therapy in six regions of Germany.

Studies from six regions of Germany (Aachen (W1), Dresden (E1), Jena (E2), Marburg (W2), Munich (W3), and Stuttgart (C1)) have been compared to verify and assess the quality of healthcare using breast cancer as an example. All of the data collection was carried out in comprehensive cancer centres and is population-based, with the exception of C1. Classic prognostic factors and the initial treatment of 8661 women with breast cancer, diagnosed between 1996 and 1998, were examined.

Bulimia nervosa with and without obsessive-compulsive syndromes.

The present study was performed in a group of bulimic (BN) females (1) to assess prevalence rates of comorbid obsessive-compulsive phenomena; (2) to investigate whether BN patients display a characteristic cluster of obsessive-compulsive symptoms; and (3) to determine whether obsessive-compulsive symptoms influence the clinical picture of BN. Thirty-eight DSM-IV BN females were interviewed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) to assess the prevalence rate of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD); the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Scale (Y-BOCS) Symptom Check-List was also used to evaluate the presence of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The phenomenology of BN females with obsessive-compulsive syndromes (OCS) as detected by the Y-BOCS was compared to that shown by a "control" group of nonbulimic OCD females.

[Scientific presentation using modern media].

When showing slides with so called "Blue Prints", it is often difficult to explain complex graphics despite the help of a Laserpointer. The Notebook and Videoprojector aid modern presentations in the step by step development of complex graphics. The audience's eyes are directly guided towards the projected image; the attention of the audience is more easily won and held through animation and moving pictures.

Occurrence and clinical correlates of psychiatric co-morbidity in delusional disorder.

The present study investigated the occurrence and the clinical correlates of psychiatric co-morbidity in a sample of 64 patients with delusional disorder (DD). Subjects were evaluated with a semi-structured interview for the collection of demographic and clinical features of the disorder; co-morbid axis 1 disorders were determined according to the clinical interview using DSM-IV by Othmer and Othmer. Delusional disorder subjects with and without co-morbid diagnoses were compared to investigate whether the presence of another psychiatric disorder influenced the clinical features of the illness.

Relapses after discontinuation of drug associated with increased resistance to treatment in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The aim of the present study was to determine whether obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients whose symptoms recur after drug discontinuation respond again when the same drug at the same daily dosage is reinstituted. Eighty-one patients who were responders to a previous 6-month, open-label, noncomparative, acute treatment phase with fixed doses of selective reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) and who relapsed within 6 months of drug discontinuation had the drug to which they responded in the acute phase reinstated at the same daily dose. The reinstitution trial lasted 24 weeks with monthly evaluations (Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale and Clinical Global Improvement).

Electrodiagnostic examination of lumbosacral radiculopathies.

To determine the diagnostic efficacy of late responses and of magnetic stimulation in the electrodiagnostic evaluation of lumbosacral radiculopathies, 42 patients with acute monoradiculopathies of L5 or S1 were examined. We performed conventional nerve conduction studies, F-wave studies, needle electrode examination (NEE) and magnetic stimulation. The results were compared with a control group of 36 persons.

Ductal orientated sonography improves the diagnosis of pathological nipple discharge of the female breast compared with galactography.

In case of abnormal nipple discharge of the female breast galactography is a recognized radiological procedure to identify and to localize intraductal growths or other ductal abnormalities. However, it harbours several methodological problems. In ductal orientated sonography the availability of high frequency linear transducers enables us now to visualize the mammary ducts in detail.

Gender-related clinical differences in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the gender-related differences of clinical features in a sample of obsessive-compulsive (OCD) patients. One hundred and sixty outpatients with a principal diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (DSM-IV, Y-BOCS = 16) were admitted. Patients were evaluated with a semi-structured interview covering the following areas: socio-demographic data, Axis I diagnoses (DSM-IV), OCD clinical features (age at onset of OC symptoms and disorder, type of onset, life events and type of course).

Imprint cytology of core needle biopsy specimens of breast lesions. A rapid approach to detecting malignancies, with comparison of cytologic and histopathologic analyses of 173 cases.

Objective: To investigate whether imprint cytology of core needle biopsy (CNB) specimens from breast lesions is a useful method of rapidly obtaining additional diagnostic information and potentially can be used to reduce the number of biopsies needed.

Study Design: Cytologic analysis was performed on 173 breast lesions and compared with their histopathologic diagnoses (143 malignant and 30 benign). For imprint cytology, one CNB specimen was rolled between two slides and stained with Diff-Quik and Papanicolaou stain.

Recent life events and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD): the role of pregnancy/delivery.

Conflicting results have been reported on the possible role of life events in triggering OCD onset. Moreover, pregnancy and/or delivery, among life events, appear to influence the OCD course and, in some cases, appear related to its onset. Our purpose was to assess the occurrence of potentially traumatizing events among patients with OCD.

Obsessive-compulsive syndromes in older adolescents.

Objective: This report presents data on the prevalence of both obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and subthreshold obsessive-compulsive syndrome (sOCS) in a representative sample of older male adolescents living in Piedmont, Italy.

Method: A total of 1,883 recruits to the Italian Defence Force were interviewed using the OC portion of the Diagnostic Interview Schedule. A diagnosis of sOCS was made for individuals who had obsessive and/or compulsive symptoms but who failed to meet one of the severity criteria of impairment.

Age changes of calcaneal ultrasonometry in healthy German women.

This study assessed age changes in quantitative ultrasound sonometry (QUS) in a large sample of healthy German women. Speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA), and stiffness index (SI) of the calcaneus were measured in 1333 women (mean age 50.5 +/- 11.

[Reduced muscular oxygen tension and nerve impulse transmission from antishock hose. Reduction of oxygen tension in the tibial muscle and impulse transmission in the peroneal nerve from pneumatic -1 pressure from antishock hose].

Object Of The Study: The aim of the study was to assess, whether the pneumatic pressure of an antishock-trouser (AST) of 20-40 mm Hg induces a decreased oxygenation of the anterior tibial muscle and attenuates muscular response potential (MRP) of n. peronaeus profundus?

Methods: Among 22 normotensive, healthy volunteers the AST were tested by applying pressure values between 0 and 100 mm Hg and measuring the intracompartmental pressure, the muscular oxygen pressure as well as the MRP by electroneurographic means within a period of 6 hours.

Results: The median initial intracompartmental pressure value of the m.

Effects of increased and decreased tissue pressure on haemodynamic and capillary events in cat skeletal muscle.

1. The controversial problem concerning the unusual haemodynamics of the deranged circulation during increased hydrostatic tissue pressure (PT) was elucidated by detailed studies of arterial, capillary and venous functions in cat skeletal muscle exposed to graded experimental changes of PT over a wide range. 2.

In-vivo effects of endothelin-1 and ETA receptor blockade on arterial, venous and capillary functions in skeletal muscle.

Results from in vitro studies have indicated that endothelin-1 is a main candidate for endothelium-derived contracting factors. The aim of this in vivo study was to describe in quantitative terms the effects of endothelin-1 (ET-1), and of ETA receptor blockade, on vascular tone (resistance) in large-bore arterial resistance vessels (> 25 microns), small arterioles (< 25 microns) and the veins, as well as on capillary pressure and fluid exchange in cat gastrocnemius muscle. Endothelin-1 (100-1600 ng kg-1 min-1, i.

Myogenic vascular regulation in skeletal muscle in vivo is not dependent of endothelium-derived nitric oxide.

The hypothesis, based on in vitro experiments on large conduit arteries, that endothelium-derived nitric oxide is a mediator of vascular myogenic reactivity was tested in cat gastrocnemius muscle in vivo. This was done by comparing, in the absence and presence of effective endothelium-derived nitric oxide blockade by the specific inhibitors NG-monomethyl-L-arginine or NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, myogenic responses in defined consecutive vascular sections to dynamic vascular transmural pressure stimuli, to arterial occlusion (reactive hyperaemia), and to arterial pressure changes (autoregulation of blood flow and capillary pressure). The results demonstrated that the myogenic vascular reactivity to quick ramp transmural pressure stimuli was not attenuated by endothelium-derived nitric oxide blockade, but rather reinforced.

Resistance responses in proximal arterial vessels, arterioles and veins during reactive hyperaemia in skeletal muscle and their underlying regulatory mechanisms.

The reactive hyperaemia response cat skeletal muscle to 2-120 s arterial occlusions was analysed with regard to amplitude, duration, 'excess blood flow' and site of dilator action along the vascular bed. The last-mentioned was assessed with a new whole-organ technique permitting continuous segmental resistance recordings in arterial vessels greater than 25 microns, arterioles less than 25 microns and veins. Peak amplitude, duration and excess flow all increased with increasing occlusion length, of which excess flow was linearly related to occlusion length.