Nondermatomal somatosensory deficits in patients with chronic pain disorder: clinical findings and hypometabolic pattern in FDG-PET.

Patients with chronic pain disorders often show somatosensory disturbances that are considered to be functional. This paper aims at a more precise clinical description and at a documentation of functional neuroimaging correlates of this phenomenon. We examined 30 consecutive patients with unilaterally accentuated chronic pain not explained by persistent peripheral tissue damage and ipsilateral somatosensory disturbances including upper and lower extremities and trunk.

Does subjective burden of early breast cancer and its treatment affect immune measures during adjuvant therapy?

Psychosocial factors have been described as affecting cellular immune measures in healthy subjects. In patients with early breast cancer we explored bi-directional psycho-immune effects to determine whether subjective burden has an impact on immune measures, and vice versa. Patients (n = 239) operated for early breast cancer and randomized into International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) adjuvant clinical trials were assessed immediately before the beginning of adjuvant treatment (baseline) and 3 and 6 months thereafter, at the beginning of the corresponding treatment cycle.

Accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of 'psychogenic disorders' in the presence of physical symptoms suggesting a general medical condition: a 5-year follow-up in 162 patients.

Objective: The range of unnoticed physical disorders in patients diagnosed with a psychogenic disorder varies widely. We investigated the accuracy of the clinical diagnosis of 'psychogenic disorder' where physical symptoms suggesting a somatic condition (PDPS) are present.

Method: All 162 cases of PDPS diagnosed between 01.