The use of electroconvulsive therapy in atypical psychotic presentations: a case review.

Convulsive therapy and its progeny, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), were originally used for the treatment of catatonic schizophrenia, and there is little doubt that ECT remains an effective intervention for the treatment of schizophrenia. However, current practice tends to favor the use of ECT in severe or treatment refractory affective disorders, and its use in schizophrenia and other nonaffective (atypical) psychotic disorders has become controversial.CASE REPORTS HAVE SUGGESTED A ROLE FOR ECT IN TWO SPECIFIC ATYPICAL PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS: Cotard's syndrome and cycloid psychosis.

A sensitive semi-micro column HPLC method with peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence detection and column switching for determination of MDMA-related compounds in hair.

A sensitive semi-micro column HPLC method with peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence (POCL) detection and column switching has been developed for simultaneous determination of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and related compounds, for example 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, methamphetamine, and amphetamine, in hair. After digestion of the hair with 1 mol L-1 sodium hydroxide the compounds were extracted with n-heptane and derivatized with 4-(N,N-dimethylaminosulfonyl)-7-fluoro-2,1,3-benzoxadiazole. A mixture of hydrogen peroxide and bis(2,4,5-trichloro-6-carbopentoxyphenyl)oxalate in acetonitrile was used as post-column CL reagent.

Expert testimony in capital sentencing: juror responses.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in Furman v.

An analysis of the effect of funding source in randomized clinical trials of second generation antipsychotics for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Objective: The effect of funding source on the outcome of randomized controlled trials has been investigated in several medical disciplines; however, psychiatry has been largely excluded from such analyses. In this article, randomized controlled trials of second generation antipsychotics in schizophrenia are reviewed and analyzed with respect to funding source (industry vs. non-industry funding).

Persistent, unwanted erections in an 8-year-old boy.

Although unusual somatic preoccupations can be seen in somatoform disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), unwanted penile erections have been described only in two cases of OCD, both adults. In the present case an 8-year-old boy developed unwanted erections, other obsessive-compulsive symptoms, as well as symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, such that he met criteria for both disorders. Treatment consisted of sertraline combined with individual play therapy and family therapy, following which the patient reported modest improvement in symptoms of both disorders.