Is Antipsychotic Drug Use During Pregnancy Associated with Increased Malformation Rates and Worsening of Maternal and Infant Outcomes? A Systematic Review.

There is much debate about continuing antipsychotic medication in patients who need it when they become pregnant because benefits must be weighed against potential teratogenic and malformation effects related to antipsychotics themselves. To address this, we conducted a systematic review on the PubMed, PsycINFO and CINHAL databases and the ClinicalTrials.gov register using the following strategy: (toxicity OR teratogenicity OR malformation* OR "birth defect*" OR "congenital abnormality" OR "congenital abnormalities" OR "brain changes" OR "behavioral abnormalities" OR "behavioral abnormalities") AND antipsychotic* AND (pregnancy OR pregnant OR lactation OR delivery OR prenatal OR perinatal OR post-natal OR puerperium) on September 27, 2023.

Depressive Symptoms during Pregnancy: Prevalence and Correlates with Affective Temperaments and Psychosocial Factors.

Pregnancy is a unique experience in women's life, requiring a great ability of adaptation and self-reorganization; vulnerable women may be at increased risk of developing depressive symptoms. This study aimed to examine the incidence of depressive symptomatology during pregnancy and to evaluate the role of affective temperament traits and psychosocial risk factors in predicting them. We recruited 193 pregnant women, collected data regarding sociodemographic, family and personal clinical variables, social support and stressful life events and administered the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A).

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Postpartum Maternal Mental Health.

Objectives: There are reports of mental health worsening during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to assess whether this occurred in women who were pregnant at baseline (late 2019) and unaware of the pandemic, and who delivered after the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions and threat (March-April 2020). To compare the pandemic period with the pre-pandemic, we capitalized on a retrospective 2014-2015 perinatal sample which had had affective symptoms assessed.

Two years follow-up of relapsing eosinophilic pneumonia with concomitant severe asthma successfully treated with benralizumab: A case report and brief review of the literature.

Relapsing eosinophilic pneumonia and severe eosinophilic asthma are rare and disabling diseases, which share common inflammatory backgrounds and often require long-term systemic steroid therapy. Benralizumab is a humanized antibody targeting IL-5 receptor that reduces corticosteroid dependence and flares up in severe eosinophilic asthma on long term. In this case report, successful treatment of eosinophilic pneumonia and severe eosinophilic asthma with benralizumab is described after a 2-year follow up, showing the promising results of this therapy for eosinophilic pneumonia management.

Depressive Symptoms in Expecting Fathers: Is Paternal Perinatal Depression a Valid Concept? A Systematic Review of Evidence.

Background: Since the identification of Couvade syndrome in the late 1950s, little attention has been dedicated to the issue of depression in expecting fathers.

Objective: To quantify the extent of depression in expecting fathers and find out if they match their pregnant partners' depression.

Methods: We conducted a PubMed and ClinicalTrials.

Pharmacogenomics-Guided Pharmacotherapy in Patients with Major Depressive Disorder or Bipolar Disorder Affected by Treatment-Resistant Depressive Episodes: A Long-Term Follow-Up Study.

Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) reduces affected patients' quality of life and leads to important social health care costs. Pharmacogenomics-guided treatment (PGT) may be effective in the cure of TRD. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical changes after PGT in patients with TRD (two or more recent failed psychopharmacological trials) affected by bipolar disorder (BD) or major depressive disorder (MDD) compared to a control group with treatment as usual (TAU).

The Relevance of Insomnia in the Diagnosis of Perinatal Depression: Validation of the Italian Version of the Insomnia Symptom Questionnaire.

Background: Sleep disorders are common in perinatal women and may underlie or trigger anxiety and depression. We aimed to translate and validate and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Insomnia Symptom Questionnaire (ISQ), in a sample of women during late pregnancy and 6-months postpartum according to the DSM-5 criteria.

Methods: The ISQ was administered to 292 women prenatally along with other measures of sleep quality, depression, and anxiety, to examine its construct and convergent validity.

Psychometric Properties of the Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale Administered to Italian Women in the Perinatal Period.

Literature stressed the importance of using valid, reliable measures to assess anxiety in the perinatal period, like the self-rated Perinatal Anxiety Screening Scale (PASS). We aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Italian PASS version in a sample of Italian women undergoing mental health screening during their third trimester of pregnancy and its diagnostic accuracy in a control perinatal sample of psychiatric outpatients. Sample comprised 289 women aged 33.

The Attentional Boost Effect in Young and Adult Euthymic Bipolar Patients and Healthy Controls.

In the Attentional Boost Effect (ABE), stimuli encoded with to-be-responded targets are later recognized more accurately than stimuli encoded with to-be-ignored distractors. While this effect is robust in young adults, evidence regarding healthy older adults and clinical populations is sparse. The present study investigated whether a significant ABE is present in bipolar patients (BP), who, even in the euthymic phase, suffer from attentional deficits, and whether the effect is modulated by age.

Fatal pulmonary fibrosis complicating COVID-19 infection in preexistent emphysema.

Only a few earlier clinical radiologic reports exist describing post-COVID-19 pulmonary fibrosis. We report a case of 74-year-old woman referred with dizziness and hypoxemic respiratory failure with chest high resolution computer tomography (HRCT) showing ground glass opacities and emphysema. The patient was tested for Sars-CoV-2 and resulted positive, she was treated with medical therapy and supported with mechanical ventilation.

The Koukopoulos mixed depression rating scale (KMDRS) and the assessment of mixed symptoms during the perinatal period.

Background: Mixed symptoms in depression may underlie bipolar diathesis rather than unipolarity. Uncovering mixed depression (MxD) is crucial for appropriate management, especially in the perinatal period, as it may affect treatment planning and impact future child development. We used a scale specific for identifying MxD and tested its validity in pregnant and postpartum women with depression.

Perinatal Mixed Affective State: Wherefore Art Thou?

Mixed states in patients with a perinatal mood episode is seldom encountered. Lack of appropriate assessment tools could be partly responsible for this observation. The authors conducted a selective review of studies dealing with the reporting of mixed symptoms in women during the perinatal period with the intention to quantify the phenomenon.

Long-Acting Injectable (LAI) Aripiprazole Formulations in the Treatment of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: a Systematic Review.

Background: Several second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are available in long-acting injectable (LAI) formulations.

Objective: To systematically review the effects of the two formulations, Monohydrate and Lauroxil, of Aripiprazole LAI in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder during an acute episode or during maintenance treatment.

Methods: On September 18, 2018, we adopted the following search strategy: (aripiprazole OR OPC-14597 OR Abilify) AND (long-acting OR depot OR LAI OR once monthly OR prolonged release OR monohydrate OR lauroxil) on PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Web of Science to identify randomised controlled trials.

Drug Treatment of Trichotillomania (Hair-Pulling Disorder), Excoriation (Skin-picking) Disorder, and Nail-biting (Onychophagia).

Background: Trichotillomania (TTM), excoriation (or skin-picking) disorder and some severe forms of onychophagia are classified under obsessive-compulsive and related disorders. There are different interacting neurotransmitter systems involved in the pathophysiology of impulse-control disorders, implicating noradrenaline, serotonin, dopamine, opioid peptides and glutamate, hence investigators focused on drugs able to act on these transmitters. Our aim was to critically review the efficacy of the drugs employed in impulse-control disorders.

Depressive symptoms, temperament/character, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder traits in medical students seeking counseling.

Background: To investigate depressive symptoms, temperament, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder traits in medical students, comparing those who sought psychological counseling with those who did not seek it.

Subjects And Methods: We assessed 49 students seeking counseling (mean age=24.4 years, SD=4.

Erectile dysfunction in patients taking psychotropic drugs and treated with phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of patients with Erectile Dysfunction (ED) receiving psychotropic drugs, the impact of these drugs on hormonal profile, and the efficacy of PDE5-i in these patients.

Materials And Methods: We recruited 1872 patients referring for ED to our Andrology Unit. Assessment included serum testosterone, gonadotropins, TSH, prolactin, and PSA, and the IIEF-5 questionnaire for ED diagnosis.

Impulse oscillometry and nitrogen washout test in the assessment of small airway dysfunction in asthma: Correlation with quantitative computed tomography.

Objective: Small airway dysfunction (SAD) and airway remodeling influence the disease control and progression in asthma. We investigated whether impulse oscillometry (IOS) and single breath nitrogen washout (SBNW) could be reliable tests in evaluating SAD and airway remodeling by correlating their data with radiological parameters derived from quantitative chest multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) imaging.

Methods: Lung function tests were performed before and after bronchodilator.

Pulmonary involvement in adult Still's disease: Case report and brief review of literature.

Background: Adult onset Still disease (AOSD) is a rare condition characterized by elevated fever along with arthritic symptoms, elevated polymorphonuclear neutrophil count, evanescent rash, and hyperferritinemia. Diagnosis can be made only after have ruled out more frequent conditions, and Yamagouchi or Fautrel criteria should be applied. Parenchimal lung involvement (PLI) is present in less than 5% of AOSD cases and ranges from aspecific reticular interstitial opacities to life threatening conditions, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Influence of the Learning Effect on the Diagnostic Yield of Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration of Mediastinal and Hilar Lymph Nodes.

Background: The diagnostic yield of conventional transbronchial needle aspiration (TBNA) is characterized by a learning effect. The aim of this retrospective study was to verify whether a learning curve similarly affected the yield of endobronchial ultrasound-guided (EBUS)-TBNA. To this end, we evaluated the sensitivity and diagnostic accuracy of EBUS-TBNA during the first 3 years of activity.

Neurobiological Evidence for the Primacy of Mania Hypothesis.

Background: Athanasios Koukopoulos proposed the primacy of mania hypothesis (PoM) in a 2006 book chapter and later, in two peer-reviewed papers with Nassir Ghaemi and other collaborators. This hypothesis supports that in bipolar disorder, mania leads to depression, while depression does not lead to mania.

Objective: To identify evidence in literature that supports or falsifies this hypothesis.

Add-on high frequency deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) to bilateral prefrontal cortex reduces cocaine craving in patients with cocaine use disorder.

Introduction: Cocaine dependence is a substantial public health problem. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of high frequency deep transcranial magnetic stimulation (dTMS) on craving in patients with cocaine use disorder (CUD).

Methods: Seven men (mean age, 48.

Hypnosis and pain perception: An Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies.

Background And Objective: Several studies reported that hypnosis can modulate pain perception and tolerance by affecting cortical and subcortical activity in brain regions involved in these processes. We conducted an Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) meta-analysis on functional neuroimaging studies of pain perception under hypnosis to identify brain activation-deactivation patterns occurring during hypnotic suggestions aiming at pain reduction, including hypnotic analgesic, pleasant, or depersonalization suggestions (HASs).

Databases And Data Treatment: We searched the PubMed, Embase and PsycInfo databases; we included papers published in peer-reviewed journals dealing with functional neuroimaging and hypnosis-modulated pain perception.

Alcohol intake and binge drinking among Italian adolescents: The role of drinking motives.

Binge drinking, a pattern associated with worse outcome, is becoming increasingly popular among youths, thus negatively impacting social life. To investigate drinking patterns and their underlying motives in Italian adolescents, the Alcohol Use Questionnaire and the Drinking Motive Questionnaire Revised Short Form were administered to 332 school-age teenagers (16-19 years; 139 girls, 193 boys) from a single Roman school, recruited at their classrooms through the intermediation of their teachers. Boys scored higher than girls on all drinking and binge measures.

The Clinical and Radiological Examination of Acute Intimate Partner Violence Injuries: A Retrospective Analysis of an Italian Cohort of Women.

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the most frequent type of violence against women. We compared clinical and radiological IPV characteristics to stranger assault (SA).

Methods: We retrospectively identified 123 women with IPV from court reports and matched them to 124 SA.