Emergency department care for patients with mental health problems, a longitudinal registry study and a before and after intervention study.

Objective: To describe the numbers and length of stay (LOS) of patients with mental health (MH) problems at a Dutch emergency department (ED) and the effect of a psychiatric intervention team (PIT) on patient flow.

Methods: A longitudinal design was used to assess number of MH presentations and LOS during a 3-year period (2014-2016). In 2017, we introduced a PIT during ED peak hours, to reduce LOS for patients with MH problems.

Poststroke Depression: A Long-Term Problem for Stroke Survivors.

Objective: The aim of the study was to ascertain the prevalence of depressive mood and its determinants in the chronic phase after stroke.

Design: Five hundred seventy-six consecutive patients were invited to participate 2 to 5 yrs after hospitalization for a first-ever stroke. Stroke characteristics at hospitalization were collected retrospectively from medical records.

Electroconvulsive therapy has acute immunological and neuroendocrine effects in patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: Major depressive disorder is associated with alterations in the neuroendocrine as well as immune system. Few studies examined the impact of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on these systems in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

Methods: In this explorative study 12 patients suffering from medication-resistant MDD or MDD with psychotic features were studied during the first, the fifth and eleventh session of ECT.

Pharmacological treatment for unipolar psychotic depression: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: The optimal pharmacological treatment of unipolar psychotic depression is uncertain.

Aims: To compare the clinical effectiveness of pharmacological treatments for patients with unipolar psychotic depression.

Method: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.

Electroconvulsive therapy for malignant catatonia in childhood.

A 13-year-old female is described with presumed viral encephalitis, who developed progressive catatonia, agitation, and autonomic dysfunction. The diagnosis of malignant catatonia was made, and the patient improved with electroconvulsive treatment. This article discusses features, causes, differential diagnosis, and treatment of malignant catatonia.