[Psychiatric rehospitalizations: Clinical, social and demographic determinants in a hospital of the City of Buenos Aires].

Objective: This study aims to determine variables associated with multiple rehospitalizations in a women's hospitalization Unit in a Psychiatric Emergency Hospital in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Method: In this an analytical, cross-sectional study 350 patients between 18 and 65 years of age, hospitalized from 2013 to December 2017 in the women's hospitalization room of the Psychiatric Emergency Hospital “Torcuato de Alvear” were included. At the time of discharge, sociodemographic, clinical and discharge conditions data were collected from all patients.

Melancholic features and treatment outcome to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in major depressive disorder: A re-analysis of the STAR*D trial.

Background: Melancholia has been positioned as a qualitatively different form of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Some studies have suggested that melancholic MDD patients may show lower remission when receiving treatment with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, but this has not yet been explored in large, representative samples of MDD.

Methods: We used data from the STAR*D, a multisite randomized controlled trial (n = 4041).

Clinical Characteristics of Melancholic and Nonmelancholic Depressions.

This study aimed to compare clinical-demographic features of melancholic and nonmelancholic depressions. We included 141 depressed inpatients classified as melancholic and nonmelancholic by the Sydney Melancholia Prototype Index (SMPI) and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) criteria. Results were controlled for confounders, including severity measures.

Correlates of neurological soft signs in bipolar disorder.

Recent research has focused on neurological soft signs (NSS) in bipolar disorder (BD), but there is still scarce evidence on their correlates with other relevant variables. The aim of this study was to explore the association between NSS and clinical demographic, neurocognitive, and functional variables. Eighty-eight euthymic BD patients were included in whom NSS were assessed using the Neurological Evaluation Scale.

Revisiting the concept of bipolar depression: comparison of diagnostic validators between melancholic and non-melancholic episodes.

The current definition of bipolar disorder derives with minimal changes from one that emerged through expert consensus in the late 1970s, and the topic of its validity tended to be neglected in the literature. The aim of this exploratory study was to compare patients with bipolar disorder with a history of melancholic and non-melancholic depressive episodes in a series of external diagnostic validators. One hundred eight subjects were categorized as melancholic or non-melancholic in relation to their history of depressive episodes through the clinician-rated Sydney Melancholia Prototype Index (SMPI).

Neurocognitive function of patients with melancholic and non-melancholic major depressive episodes: An exploratory study.

Objective: The aim of this exploratory study was to compare the neurocognitive performance of patients undergoing melancholic and non-melancholic major depressive episodes. Considering potential limitations of the (5th ed.) specifier, we employed an additional tool that has proven useful in identifying melancholia (the Sydney Melancholia Prototype Index).

Clinical Course in Patients With Melancholic and Nonmelancholic Bipolar Depression.

The aim of the current study was to compare the longitudinal clinical course of patients with a history of melancholic and nonmelancholic bipolar depression. Seventy-seven euthymic outpatients with bipolar disorder were categorized as melancholic or nonmelancholic through the clinician-rated Sydney Melancholia Prototype Index. Clinical course was assessed for a period longer than 48 months by time spent ill, density of affective episodes, severity and duration of depressive episodes, and time to depressive recurrence.

Bipolar Depression: A Historical Perspective of the Current Concept, with a Focus on Future Research.

The aim of this narrative review is to trace the origin of the concept of bipolar depression and to expose some of its limitations. Bipolar depression is a broad clinical construct including experiences ranging from traditional melancholic and psychotic episodes ascribed to "manic-depressive insanity," to another heterogeneous group of depressive episodes originally described in the context of binary models of unipolar depression (e.g.

[Length of psychiatric hospitalizations: a clinical and socio-demographic characterization].

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the clinical, socio-demographic, and therapeutic variables associated with the length of hospitalization in a psychiatric emergency hospital in Buenos Aires City.

Method: The present retrospective analytical study included 350 consecutively admitted patients aged 18-65, from June 2013 until December 2017 in a public psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires City. Data collected included socio-demographic, clinical and discharge conditions.

Manic morbidity and executive function impairment as determinants of long-term psychosocial dysfunction in bipolar disorder.

Objective: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the role of cognitive performance and measures of clinical course-including both syndromal and subsyndromal symptomatology-as determinants of the functional outcome of patients with Bipolar Disorder (BD) during a mean follow-up period of more than 4 years.

Methods: Seventy patients with euthymic BD completed a neurocognitive battery at study entry. Clinical course was assessed prospectively for a period longer than 48 months by two measures: time spent ill (documented using a modified life charting technique) and density of affective episodes (defined as the number of depressive and hypo/manic episodes per year of follow-up).

Renal Damage During Continuous Versus Intermittent Treatment with Lithium.

The aim of this study was to evaluate renal damage in animals treated with lithium continuously versus intermittently. Rats were randomized into three groups: control group fed ad libitum powered standard diet for 3 months and two experimental groups, one of them fed ad libitum the same diet or the same diet supplemented with 60 mmol of lithium/kg diet every alternate week, for 3 months and the other fed ad libitum powered standard diet for one and a half month and the same diet supplemented with 60 mmol of lithium/kg diet for the last month and a half. Lithemias in experimental groups were within therapeutic range used in humans.

Predictors of High Psychosocial Functioning in Bipolar Disorder.

The aim of this study was to identify predictors of high psychosocial functioning in patients with bipolar disorder (BD). One hundred forty-five outpatients with BD and 50 healthy controls were included. Patients were categorized as having high psychosocial functioning if they concomitantly met three conditions: a) General Assessment of Functioning greater than 90, b) full-time employment, and c) full functional recovery.

Personality Disturbances in Melancholic and Nonmelancholic Unipolar Major Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Although melancholic depression has been associated with a more adequate premorbid personality style, the empirical evidence supporting this statement is inconclusive. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analyzed studies comparing the presence of personality disturbances in melancholic and nonmelancholic subtypes of major depressive disorder (MDD). We defined a) a continuous outcome, defining personality traits as a dimensional construct, and b) a dichotomous outcome, defined as the presence/absence of personality disorders (PD).

Neurocognitive predictors of long-term clinical course in bipolar disorder.

Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate whether neurocognitive deficits are predictors of the long-term clinical course of patients with bipolar disorder.

Methods: A total of 76 outpatients with bipolar disorder performed a neurocognitive assessment at baseline and were followed for a period of at least 48 months. The clinical course during the follow-up period was documented by two measures: (1) number of affective episodes and (2) time spent ill.

The structure of mania: An overview of factorial analysis studies.

Background: Operational definitions of mania are based on expert consensus rather than empirical data. The aim of this study is to identify the key domains of mania, as well as the relevance of the different signs and symptoms of this clinical construct.

Methods: A review of latent factor models studies in manic patients was performed.

Relationship between serum lithium concentration and kidney damage in a preclinical model.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess whether there is a relationship between serum lithium concentrations and the magnitude of kidney damage in a preclinical model.

Methods: Thirty Wistar male rats were randomized into three groups: control group fed ad libitum powered standard diet for 3 months; and experimental groups fed ad libitum the same diet supplemented with 30 or 60 mmol/kg diet for 3 months (LowLi and HighLi groups respectively). Laboratory parameters were assessed at months 1 and 3 and histopathological changes were evaluated after 3 months.

Longitudinal analysis of cognitive performances in recent-onset and late-life Bipolar Disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objectives: Neurocognitive deficits have been widely reported in euthymic Bipolar Disorder (BD) patients and contribute to functional disability. However, the longitudinal trajectory of these deficits remains a subject of debate. Although most research to this date shows that neurocognitive deficits tend to be stable among middle-age BD patients, it remains plausible that deterioration occurs at either early or late stages of this condition.

Melancholia: An Attempt at Definition Based on a Review of Empirical Data.

We sought to identify clinical features that best discriminate melancholia from nonmelancholic depressive conditions. An extensive review of studies using latent factor models that identified a melancholic depression dimension/factor was undertaken. Clinical variables extracted from these studies were analyzed in terms of their contribution to a diagnosis of melancholia and their consistency across studies.

Episodic density, subsyndromic symptoms, and mood instability in late-life bipolar disorders: A 5-year follow-up study.

Objectives: Characterization of clinical course in old age bipolar disorder (OABD) is scarce and based solely on episode density (ED). The aim of this study was to explore mood instability (MI) and subsyndromal symptomatology (SS) in a prospective cohort of OABD. Further, we contrasted these measures with a cohort of young age bipolar disorder (YABD).

Social cognition in first episode bipolar disorder patients.

The aim of this study was to describe theory of mind (ToM) and emotional processing (EP) functioning in recently diagnosed bipolar disorder (BD). We evaluated 26 first episode BD (mean age 22.9 ± 7.