Neurological Signs at the First Psychotic Episode as Correlates of Long-Term Outcome: Results From the AESOP-10 Study.

Minor neurological signs are subtle deficits in sensory integration, motor coordination, and sequencing of complex motor acts present in excess in the early stages of psychosis. Still, it remains unclear whether at least some of these signs represent trait or state markers for psychosis and whether they are markers of long-term disease outcome of clinical utility. We examined the relationship between neurological function at illness onset assessed with the Neurological Evaluation Scale and subsequent illness course in 233 patients from AESOP-10 (Aetiology and Ethnicity in Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses), a 10-year follow-up study of a population-based cohort of individuals recruited at the time of their first episode of psychosis in the United Kingdom.

Symptom remission at 12-weeks strongly predicts long-term recovery from the first episode of psychosis.

Background: To determine the baseline individual characteristics that predicted symptom recovery and functional recovery at 10-years following the first episode of psychosis.

Methods: AESOP-10 is a 10-year follow up of an epidemiological, naturalistic population-based cohort of individuals recruited at the time of their first episode of psychosis in two areas in the UK (South East London and Nottingham). Detailed information on demographic, clinical, and social factors was examined to identify which factors predicted symptom and functional remission and recovery over 10-year follow-up.

Early sustained recovery following first episode psychosis: Evidence from the AESOP10 follow-up study.

Objective: To describe the characteristics of individuals with early sustained recovery following first episode psychosis.

Methods: Individuals with a first episode psychosis were followed-up for ten years. Comparisons were made between those with Early Sustained Recovery and those with Other Course types.

Ethnicity and long-term course and outcome of psychotic disorders in a UK sample: the ÆSOP-10 study.

The incidence of psychotic disorders is elevated in some minority ethnic populations. However, we know little about the outcome of psychoses in these populations.To investigate patterns and determinants of long-term course and outcome of psychoses by ethnic group following a first episode.

Antipsychotic treatment resistance in first-episode psychosis: prevalence, subtypes and predictors.

Background: We examined longitudinally the course and predictors of treatment resistance in a large cohort of first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients from initiation of antipsychotic treatment. We hypothesized that antipsychotic treatment resistance is: (a) present at illness onset; and (b) differentially associated with clinical and demographic factors.

Method: The study sample comprised 323 FEP patients who were studied at first contact and at 10-year follow-up.

Outcomes following first-episode psychosis - Why we should intervene early in all ages, not only in youth.

Objective: To compare baseline demographics and 10-year outcomes of a first-episode psychosis patient incidence cohort in order to establish whether current youth-focussed age-based criteria for early intervention services are justified by patient needs. The patients in this cohort were treated prior to the establishment of early intervention services. The study aimed to test the hypothesis that those who develop psychosis at a younger age have worse outcomes than those who develop psychosis at an older age.

Ten-year outcomes in first episode psychotic major depression patients compared with schizophrenia and bipolar patients.

We aimed to investigate long-term outcomes in psychotic major depression patients compared to schizophrenia and bipolar/manic psychosis patients, in an incidence sample, while accounting for diagnostic change. Based on Aetiology and Ethnicity in Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses (ÆSOP and ÆSOP-10), a first episode psychosis cohort was followed-up 10years after first presentation. The Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry, WHO Life Chart and Global Assessment of Functioning were used to assess clinical, social and service use outcomes.

A guide to a new short course to promote interest and engagement in psychiatry in medical students.

This article describes a new course for preclinical medical undergraduates designed to promote interest and engagement in psychiatry. The course employed a range of innovative teaching techniques alongside ward visits to provide students with early clinical experience. Unusually, assessment for the course involved the production of creative works as well as reflective writing about students' experiences.

Biological and psychosocial risk factors for psychotic major depression.

Aims: Few studies have investigated risk factors for psychotic major depression (PMD). We aimed to investigate the biological and psychosocial risk factors associated with PMD compared with other psychotic disorders.

Methods: Based on the aetiology and ethnicity in schizophrenia and other psychoses (ÆSOP) study, we used a case-control study to identify and recruit, at baseline and 10-year follow-up, all first episode cases of psychosis, presenting for the first time to specialist mental health services in defined catchment areas in the UK.

Diagnostic change 10 years after a first episode of psychosis.

Background: A lack of an aetiologically based nosology classification has contributed to instability in psychiatric diagnoses over time. This study aimed to examine the diagnostic stability of psychosis diagnoses using data from an incidence sample of psychosis cases, followed up after 10 years and to examine those baseline variables which were associated with diagnostic change.

Method: Data were examined from the ÆSOP and ÆSOP-10 studies, an incidence and follow-up study, respectively, of a population-based cohort of first-episode psychosis cases from two sites.

Mortality in schizophrenia and other psychoses: a 10-year follow-up of the ӔSOP first-episode cohort.

The excess mortality in people with psychotic disorders is a major public health concern, but little is known about the clinical and social risk factors which may predict this health inequality and help inform preventative strategies. We aimed to investigate mortality in a large epidemiologically characterized cohort of individuals with first-episode psychosis compared with the general population and to determine clinical and social risk factors for premature death. All 557 individuals with first-episode psychosis initially identified in 2 areas (Southeast London and Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom) were traced over a 10-year period in the ӔSOP-10 study.

Reappraising the long-term course and outcome of psychotic disorders: the AESOP-10 study.

Background: Studies of the long-term course and outcome of psychoses tend to focus on cohorts of prevalent cases. Such studies bias samples towards those with poor outcomes, which may distort our understanding of prognosis. Long-term follow-up studies of epidemiologically robust first-episode samples are rare.

Evaluation of perinuclear anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic autoantibodies as an early marker of protein-losing enteropathy and protein-losing nephropathy in Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers.

Objective: To evaluate perinuclear anti-neutrophilic cytoplasmic autoantibody (pANCA) status in Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers (SCWTs) and SCWT-Beagle crossbred dogs and to correlate pANCA status of dogs with clinicopathologic variables of protein-losing enteropathy (PLE), protein-losing nephropathy (PLN), or both.

Animals: 13 SCWTs and 8 SCWT-Beagle crossbred dogs in a research colony and a control group comprising 7 dogs with X-linked hereditary nephropathy and 12 healthy SCWTs > 9 years old.

Procedures: Samples were obtained from dogs in the research colony every 6 months.

New technical advances in swivel walkers.

Swivel walkers were commonly prescribed for children with complete thoracic lesion myelomeningocele in the 1970s and 80s, when the incidence of spina bifida in the UK was of the order of 3 per 100,000 live births. The advent of reciprocal walking orthoses provided a more suitable alternative for those with good upper limb and trunk function, and swivel walkers were then used primarily for very young or more severely disabled patients. Pre-natal screening has dramatically reduced the incidence of spina bifida in the UK and subsequently swivel walkers have been used in a wider range of pathology, including spinal muscular atrophy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy and other neurological conditions that lead to lower limb dysfunction.

A reciprocal walking orthosis hip joint for young paediatric patients with a variety of pathological conditions.

A growing trend in the use of reciprocal walking orthoses for infant paraplegic patients, and their application for control of the lower limbs in very young total body involved cerebral palsy patients, has created a need for smaller components. A prototype design of a hip joint has been produced which provides the following features: adjustable range of flexion/extension control; override on stops to permit sitting; high lateral rigidity; no lateral bearing play; very high rigidity in the sagittal plane; low friction bearings; high resistance to torque about the vertical axis. In addition a size envelope which is more in keeping with the dimensions of infant patients was an important objective.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder among homeless veterans.

Among 100 participants in a Department of Veterans Affairs domiciliary program for chronic mentally ill homeless veterans who were consecutively referred for psychiatric consultation, 81 who were not psychotic and did not have central nervous system damage were screened for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The screening instrument was a four-item questionnaire. Fifty of the 81 participants screened positive, yet none of the patients or their clinicians had considered ADHD a possible influence on their lives.

The ORLAU VCG (variable centre of gravity) swivel walker for muscular dystrophy patients.

Swivel walkers are being increasingly used for muscular dystrophy patients in order to prolong the period of their ambulation. Existing designs did not address the special problems of accommodating such patients comfortably and providing the easier and more assured ambulation which their weakened condition requires. The ORLAU VCG (variable centre of gravity) swivel walker has been developed so that the walking mechanics can be adjusted independently of patient posture.

[Leiomyo-fibro-angiomatous hamartoma of the myocardium].

Casuistic report on an intramural hamartoma of the size of a walnut in the left ventricle consisting of fibrous connective tissue, vessels and smooth musculature which was found as secondary findings in the autopsy of a 76-year-old man. With the help of statistic material from literature is referred to the rarity of primary cardiac tumours. On the basis of other casuistic contributions of newer literature is referred to the clinical significance which cardiac tumors may have in adequate localisation as well as sufficient size.