Acute electroconvulsive therapy followed by maintenance electroconvulsive therapy decreases hospital re-admission rates of older patients with severe mental illness.

Objectives: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a highly effective treatment for patients with severe mental illness (SMI). Maintenance ECT (M-ECT) is required for many elderly patients experiencing severe recurrent forms of mood disorders, whereas M-ECT for schizophrenia patients is a poorly studied treatment. We report on the outcomes in aged patients with SMI: schizophrenia and severe affective disorders treated by M-ECT of varying duration to prevent relapse after a successful course of acute ECT.

Co-morbid social phobia in schizophrenia.

Background: The co-morbid occurrence of anxiety disorders and schizophrenia has recently begun to be investigated. Social anxiety may be especially important to diagnose and manage among patients with schizophrenia.

Aim: To investigate the prevalence and correlates of social phobia in patients with schizophrenia.

Itching in the psychiatric ward.

Chronic itch is known to have psychogenic elements; however, there is no data on itch prevalence and characteristics among hospitalized psychiatric patients. We investigated the prevalence and types of itching among hospitalized psychiatric patients who met DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia, affective or other psychiatric disorders. A validated itch questionnaire based on the McGill Pain Questionnaire, which examines the incidence and characteristics of itching, was administered to 111 patients, hospitalized in an Israeli university hospital.

Quetiapine for elderly non-responsive schizophrenia patients.

Ten elderly chronic schizophrenia patients who were not responding to an atypical antipsychotic were switched to quetiapine. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) demonstrated statistically significant improvement after 6 months of quetiapine treatment. Four patients discontinued treatment due to clinical exacerbation or sedation.

A randomized, single-blind, comparison of venlafaxine with paroxetine in elderly patients suffering from resistant depression.

It is estimated that up to 45% of patients with depression do not have an adequate response to a first trial of antidepressant therapy with even higher reported rates for the elderly patients. To compare the efficacy and the tolerability of venlafaxine vs. paroxetine in elderly patients suffering from resistant major depression, who did not respond to at least two previous adequate trials of antidepressants.

Quetiapine treatment for behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia in Alzheimer's disease patients: a 6-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Setting: Treating elderly patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) is challenging due to the increased risk of iatrogenic movement disorders with old neuroleptics and the seemingly increasing risk of cardiovascular events with newer atypical agents. Quetiapine is an atypical antipsychotic agent that warrants further investigation.

Objectives: To assess tolerability, safety, and clinical benefit of quetiapine in AD patients with BPSD.

Cardiac and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality associated with antipsychotic medications in elderly psychiatric inpatients.

Objective: To evaluate the rate of adverse medical outcomes for elderly exposed to antipsychotic treatment.

Methods: This was a retrospective evaluation of psychiatric inpatients records. Age, gender, diagnosis, treatment with antipsychotics, and duration of treatment were analyzed.

Intramuscular ziprasidone treatment of acute psychotic agitation in elderly patients with schizophrenia.

Objective: Intramuscular (i.m.) ziprasidone treatment has been shown to be effective and well tolerated in reducing the symptoms of acute psychosis in adults.

Donepezil for negative signs in elderly patients with schizophrenia: an add-on, double-blind, crossover, placebo-controlled study.

Objective: Cognitive impairment and negative signs are common in patients with schizophrenia. Up to 35% of elderly patients with schizophrenia fulfill the diagnostic criteria of dementia. Donepezil inhibits cholinesterase, thus enhancing cholinergic neurotransmission.

Elderly psychiatric patients at risk of folic acid deficiency: a case controlled study.

In the elderly, folic acid deficiency may result in psychiatric symptoms or the increases in severity of other organic and non-organic mental diseases. We aimed to characterize elderly, community-dwelling, newly admitted patients to a large urban psychiatric hospital who are suffering from untreated folic acid deficiency in comparison with elderly inpatients who do not suffer from this deficiency. During a 2-year period, all subjects aged 65 years or older admitted to the large psychiatric center were tested for levels of serum folic acid levels.

Patients with very-late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis: a follow-up study.

Objective: The topic of course and outcome of very-late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis (VLOSLP) has not received the research attention it deserves. The aim of this study was to evaluate the course of clinical symptoms and functional status of patients with VLOSLP in comparison with patients with life-long schizophrenia.

Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted on primary caregivers of 21 patients with VLOSLP who had recently been released from inpatient care.

Donepezil for the treatment of behavioral symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Behavioral and psychologic symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are common manifestations in mid- and late-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD). Traditional treatments for BPSD are neuroleptics and sedatives, which are not devoid of serious adverse effects. A number of studies show beneficial effects in the treatment of BPSD with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEI).

Very late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis: clinical and imaging characteristics in comparison with elderly patients with schizophrenia.

Studies of late-onset schizophrenia began in the early 1940s with work by M. Bleuler. Despite this fact, the emphasis on age of onset in young adulthood distracted researchers of schizophrenia from accumulating data on the subgroup of patients whose disease onset is in late life.

Is forequarter amputation justified for palliation of intractable cancer symptoms?

Background: Limb-sparing surgery has replaced the radical surgical approach for treating limb sarcomas in most cases. Amputation has been advocated as a palliative procedure for symptomatic locally advanced disease that has already failed to respond to radiation therapy, chemotherapy and limited surgery.

Methods: Twelve patients with advanced malignant tumors involving the shoulder girdle or the proximal humerus underwent forequarter amputation (FQA) for palliative purposes.

Higher natural killer cell activity in schizophrenic patients: the impact of serum factors, medication, and smoking.

Schizophrenia has been associated with altered immunity and reduced occurrence of autoimmune diseases and malignancies. A few studies in schizophrenic patients have assessed natural killer cell activity (NKA), but no consistent findings have emerged. However, NKA was assessed using standard procedures and in the absence of autologous serum and the various cytokines that modulate NKA and appear to be abnormal in schizophrenic patients.

Headache in schizophrenic patients: a controlled study.

Various studies have indicated that chronic schizophrenic patients share a lower rate of headaches than the normal population. A questionnaire concerning the symptomatology of headache was administered to 108 schizophrenic patients in the chronic stage and to 100 normal subjects. The questions dealt with type, location, frequency, severity, and duration of headache, as well as with its accompanying phenomena.

Antibodies to neuroblastoma cell line proteins in patients with schizophrenia.

The presence of antibodies against neural antigens was investigated in the serum of patients with schizophrenia, major depression and normal controls. Different immunological abnormalities, humoral and cellular, were reported in schizophrenia and major depression. The pathogenesis of schizophrenia is multifactorial.

Erotomania following an orchiectomy: a case report.

A case report of young male patient with erotomania following seminoma and orchiectomy is described in this article. The probable dynamics that lead to this delusion are then discussed. This case report demonstrates the cooperation between the oncology ward and the psychiatric liaison service.