The effects of silent visuomotor cueing on word retrieval in Broca's aphasies: A pilot study.

About a quarter of stroke patients worldwide suffer serious language disorders such as aphasias. Most common symptoms of Broca's aphasia are word naming disorders which highly impact verbal communication and the quality of life of aphasic patients. In order to recover disturbances in word retrieval, several cueing methods (i.

Gender differences in neuroleptic nonresponsive clozapine-treated schizophrenics.

Gender differences in neuroleptic-refractory chronic schizophrenic disorder patients were examined to determine whether a superior or equivalent antipsychotic response in women vs. men existed similar to that of the general schizophrenic population. Sixty-nine DSM-III schizophrenic patients (47 males and 22 females) were treated with clozapine using a standardized medication regime.

Reduced caudate nucleus volume in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background: Current hypotheses about the neuroanatomical structures involved in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suggest abnormalities in cortical-striatal-thalamic-cortical circuits. This study examined selected brain regions within or adjacent to these circuits.

Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging scans from 26 patients with OCD and 26 healthy controls were analyzed to determine the volumes of the following structures: prefrontal cortex (cortex anterior to the genu of the corpus callosum), caudate nucleus, lateral and third ventricles, and whole brain.

Plasma clozapine levels and clinical response for treatment-refractory schizophrenic patients.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if plasma clozapine levels were associated with treatment response.

Method: To examine this question, neuroleptic nonresponsive patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were given clozapine, which was titrated to 500 mg/day by day 14 of treatment, and the dose was held fixed at least through day 21. Subsequently, clozapine doses were adjusted as clinically indicated, up to a maximum of 900 mg/day.

Dosage of haloperidol for mania.

Background: We compared three doses of a neuroleptic as a treatment for mania.

Method: Forty-seven newly admitted in-patients with mania were randomised to receive 10, 30, or 80 mg a day of oral haloperidol, under double-blind conditions for up to six weeks. All subjects received prophylactic benztropine.

Possible predictors of neuroleptic-resistant schizophrenic relapse: influence of negative symptoms and acute extrapyramidal side effects.

The relative efficacy of conventional treatment alternatives that are routinely used to treat acutely relapsed schizophrenic patients who have failed an initial course of standard neuroleptic therapy has not been adequately studied, nor have predictors of poor treatment response been reliably identified. We have recently reported preliminary findings that suggest that these patients may subsequently fail to respond to such conventional alternative treatments as (1) maintaining the same dose of the neuroleptic over an extended trial, (2) significantly increasing the dose of the same neuroleptic, or (3) switching to a different class of neuroleptic. Negative symptoms and acute extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) evident during the initial treatment trial were associated with a less favorable clinical response to neuroleptic treatment.

The dopamine-serotonin relationship in clozapine response.

The effects of clozapine on the dopamine and serotonin systems may underlie its atypical pharmacologic and clinical profile. To examine this hypothesis, we measured dopamine and serotonin plasma and cerebrospinal (CSF) metabolites and the relationship of these values to treatment response in 19 neuroleptic refractory and intolerant schizophrenic patients. Only a small change in the CSF and plasma homovanillic acid (HVA) and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA) levels was found.

Combining Clozapine with ECT.

We describe the safe and effective use of the combination of clozapine and ECT in a patient with schizophrenia who had lost responsiveness to clozapine alone. We suggest further investigation to define the role of combined clozapine-ECT treatment in the management of treatment-resistant schizophrenia.