Relationship Between Anesthesia Depth and Quality of Seizures in Patients Undergoing Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Prospective Observational Study.

Objectives: Electroconvulsive therapy under general anesthesia is an established treatment for mood disorders, such as therapy-resistant depression. As most anesthetic drugs used for induction of anesthesia increase the seizure threshold, adequate depth of anesthesia without diminishing the therapeutic efficacy of interventions is crucial. The aim of this study was to investigate whether anesthesia depth as assessed by Narcotrend (NCT) monitoring correlates with maximum seizure quality.

Old Age Bipolar Disorder-Epidemiology, Aetiology and Treatment.

Data regarding older age bipolar disorder (OABD) are sparse. Two major groups are classified as patients with first occurrence of mania in old age, the so called "late onset" patients (LOBD), and the elder patients with a long-standing clinical history, the so called "early onset" patients (EOBD). The aim of the present literature review is to provide more information on specific issues concerning OABD, such as epidemiology, aetiology and treatments outcomes.

Does a Lack of Awareness of Cycloid Psychosis Hamper Adequate Treatment for Patients Suffering From This Disorder? A Case Report.

Categorial systems of nosology are based on a cross-sectional enumeration of symptoms with a predefined cut-off, but hardly capture rapid fluctuations of manifestation nor longitudinal characteristics, e.g., cyclicity.

Combined Processing of Facial and Vocal Emotion in Remitted Patients With Bipolar I Disorder.

Objectives: Bipolar disorder (BD) is associated with impairments in facial emotion and emotional prosody perception during both mood episodes and periods of remission. To expand on previous research, the current study investigated cross-modal emotion perception, that is, matching of facial emotion and emotional prosody in remitted BD patients.

Methods: Fifty-nine outpatients with BD and 45 healthy volunteers were included into a cross-sectional study.

Efficacy of Continuation/Maintenance Electroconvulsive Therapy in the Treatment of Patients With Mood Disorders: A Retrospective Analysis.

Objective: The aim of the study was to contribute evidence for the efficacy of continuation and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (c/mECT) going beyond the existing literature by examining longer-term outcomes from a single center.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study for a 14-year period, in which a group of 27 individuals with mood disorders, as defined by International Classification of Diseases-10, were examined and received acute ECT, followed by c/mECT. Mirror-image comparison of individual data sets, 5 years before and after c/mECT, was conducted for the number and mean duration of hospitalizations, as well as inpatient days per year.

The use of (newer) antipsychotics in bipolar inpatients over a 17-year observation period.

Antipsychotics (AP) are commonly used in the treatment of bipolar disorder. They cover a broad spectrum of indications including acute psychotic, manic and depressive symptoms, and maintenance treatment. This study evaluates the changes in prescribing patterns of first-generation antipsychotics (FGA) and second-generation AP at Innsbruck University Hospital for the treatment of bipolar inpatients between 1999 and 2016.

Quality of life in stabilized outpatients with bipolar I disorder: Associations with resilience, internalized stigma, and residual symptoms.

Objectives: Improving Quality of Life (QoL) is an important objective in the treatment of bipolar disorder. The aim of the current study was to examine to which extent resilience, internalized stigma, and psychopathology are correlated to QoL.

Methods: We recruited 60 outpatients diagnosed with bipolar I disorder according to DSM-IV criteria and 77 healthy control subjects from the general community.

Bupropion Maintenance Treatment in Refractory Bipolar Depression: A Case Report.

Background: The optimal duration of antidepressant treatment in bipolar depression appears to be controversial due to a lack of quality evidence, and guideline recommendations are either vague or contradictive. This is especially true for second line treatments such as bupropion that had not been subject to rigourous long term studies in Bipolar Disorder.

Case Presentation: We report the case of a 75 year old woman who presented with treatment refractory bipolar depression.

[Lithium treatment in patients with impaired kidney function: Between Scylla and Charybdis].

In quite a few patients with bipolar disorder there is no real alternative to lithium treatment despite impaired kidney function. Is it possible to continue lithium treatment despite kidney malfunction by changing dosage and/or frequency of administration? We report on a 65-year-old woman suffering from bipolar-I disorder who had been on lithium treatment for many decades. While on lithium, the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) decreased constantly.

Child and adolescent psychiatry patients coming of age: a retrospective longitudinal study of inpatient treatment in Tyrol.

Background: Mental illness is a common phenomenon at all ages. Various independent studies have shown that psychopathology is often expressed on a continuum from youth to adulthood. The aim of our study was to demonstrate a) the frequency of admission of former child and adolescent psychiatry inpatients (CAP-IP) to adult inpatient mental health facilities, and b) a potential longitudinal diagnostic shift.

Prosodic and semantic affect perception in remitted patients with bipolar I disorder.

Objective: Bipolar disorder is associated with impairments in emotion processing that are present during both mood episodes and periods of remission. In this context, most previous studies have investigated facial emotion recognition abilities. In contrast, the current study focused on the perception of prosodic and semantic affect.

[Efficacy of continuation and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (c/m ECT) in the treatment of patients with therapy-resistant affective disorders: a retrospective analysis].

Background: Continuation and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy (c/m ECT) is a long-term treatment option in severely and chronically ill patients with mood disorders, who are unresponsive or intolerant to medication. Due to the current lack of empirical studies, c/m ECT is still a clinical tool with little evidence.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients' charts who received c/m ECT over a 10-year period.

Affective prosody perception in symptomatically remitted patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Affect perception has frequently been shown to be impaired in patients suffering from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (BD), but it remains unclear whether these impairments exist during symptomatic remission and whether the two disorders differ from each other in this regard. Most previous studies have investigated facial affect recognition, but not the ability to decode mental states from emotional tone of voice, i.e.

Facial affect recognition in symptomatically remitted patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD) have consistently been associated with deficits in facial affect recognition (FAR). These impairments have been related to various aspects of social competence and functioning and are relatively stable over time. However, individuals in remission may outperform patients experiencing an acute phase of the disorders.

[«The child is father of the man» - review of literature on epidemiology in child and adolescent psychiatry].

One of the goals of epidemiological research is to describe the frequency and patterns in the distribution of diseases among certain groups of a statistical population. According to the literature available, mental disorders in children and adolescents are a common phenomenon worldwide. This article provides a review of the most important and recent international studies on the magnitude, on patterns of distribution, on the course and on gender differences of psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents.

Treatment patterns in inpatients with bipolar disorder at a psychiatric university hospital over a 9-year period: focus on mood stabilizers.

The increasing number of pharmacological treatment options for bipolar disorder seems to be paralleled by the number of evidence-based guidelines published previously. The aim of this study was to systematically examine the adherence to published guidelines and any change in prescription habits over time in a psychiatric hospital setting. This is a retrospective study of 531 bipolar in patients who were consecutively admitted to the Department for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy in Innsbruck.

Facial emotion recognition and its relationship to subjective and functional outcomes in remitted patients with bipolar I disorder.

Objectives:   Outcome in bipolar disorder (BD) is multidimensional and consists of clinical and psychosocial domains. Difficulties in affect recognition and in emotional experience are a hallmark of BD, but there is little research investigating the consequences of this deficit on the psychosocial status of patients who are in remission.

Methods:   This cross-sectional study examined the relationship of facial affect recognition and treatment outcomes in terms of psychopathology, quality of life, and psychosocial functioning in remitted BD patients compared to healthy volunteers.

[Depressive symptoms and the Idiopathic Parkinson's Syndrome (IPS): a review].

The prevalence of the Ideopathic Parkinson's Syndrome sums up to 2% and ranks second in the list of neurodegenerative diseases. Beside psychotic, cognitive and behavioural symptoms that go along with the IPS, the authors focus on epidemiology, pathogenesis as well as diagnosis and therapy of depressive symptoms seen in the context of IPS. Metaanalytic data on the prevalence of depressive symptoms sum up to 31%.

[Are there substantial reasons for contraindicating antidepressants in bipolar disorder? Part III. The alternatives!].

After having described depressive symptoms along the course and different subtypes of bipolar disorder the authors focus on pharmacological alternatives to antidepressant medication in bipolar depression. In doing so, they review the newest literature on efficacy of antidepressants and compare effect size of the different alternatives like antipsychotics and mood stabilizers to those of antidepressants. Efficacy of antidepressants in bipolar depression is still discussed controversially, as scientific evidence, is as far as available, weak.

[Is there a rationale in combining anticonvulsants for bipolar patients?].

High recurrence rates, chronicity and severity as well as high incidence rates of therapy refractory of bipolar disorder, different clinical manifestations of episodes, and psychiatric comorbidities demand combined drug treatment strategies. Polypharmacy is reported in more than 40 % of bipolar in- and out patients. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the incidence of combined mood stabilizer prescriptions and to delineate preclinical and clinical rationales for these treatment options.

[Are there substantial reasons for contraindicating antidepressants in bipolar disorder? Part II: facts or artefacts?].

After having dedicated the first part of this article to the prevalence and impact of depressive symptoms in the context of bipolar disorders, the authors now delineate advantages and disadvantages of antidepressants in bipolar depression. A literature search was performed using PubMed, and Mesh Database using the keywords, bipolar disorder, antidepressants and depression. Additional information was gained by cross-referencing from papers found in the data base.

[Psychotherapeutic interventions in bipolar disorder: a review].

The treatment of bipolar disorders is a demanding task involving patients, therapists and relatives. As bipolar disorders are associated to multiple psychosocial disturbances, the management of a bipolar disease should focus on psychosocial interventions. Despite an exploding literature on this topic, psychopharmacological interventions applied as a monotherapy have shown unsatisfactory outcomes.

[Child and adolescent bipolar disorder].

The onset of bipolar disorders before the age of 10 is rare. First manifestation occurs most frequently between the age of 15 to 30. Children of a parent with bipolar disorder are at a fivefold risk for developing a bipolar disorder.

Menarche, puberty, and first sexual activities in eating-disordered patients as compared with a psychiatric and a nonpsychiatric control group.

Objective: To examine chronology and experience of menarche, puberty, and first sexual activities in eating-disordered patients as compared with a psychiatric and a nonpsychiatric control group.

Method: We interviewed 150 females, namely 50 patients with anorexia or bulimia nervosa (ED), 50 patients with polysubstance dependence (PSD-CO), and 50 healthy controls (HE-CO) (defined by DSM-IV) on chronology and their experience of menarche, puberty, and first sexual activities adjusted for childhood sexual abuse.

Results: ED women were similar to HE-CO in age at menarche and most sexual milestones, but differed significantly from PSD-CO women, who were "early starters.