Low Recognition of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Primary Care.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common and disabling disorder that develops as a consequence of traumatic events and is characterised by distressing re-experiencing of parts of the trauma, avoidance of reminders, emotional numbing and hyperarousal. The NICE guidelines for PTSD (2005) recommend trauma-focused psychological therapy as the first-line treatment. A survey of 129 general practitioners in South London investigated the recognition and treatment of PTSD in primary care.

A comparative study of mismatch negativity (MMN) in epilepsy and non-epileptic seizures.

This study investigated mismatch negativity (MMN) differences between subjects with non-epileptic seizures (NES), subjects with epilepsy, and healthy controls. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were obtained from 14 patients with NES, 15 patients with epilepsy and 16 healthy control subjects. A conventional MMN procedure was used with a random sequence of 12% deviant tones (922 Hz) and 88% standard tones (1000 Hz).

Making sense of non-epileptic seizures.

Background: Non-epileptic seizures (NES) are a chronic condition that is frequently misdiagnosed. Limited awareness of the condition may contribute to mismanagement and poor outcome.

Methods: Medline and PsycLit review of clinical and laboratory studies.

Psychopathological profile in patients with severe bilateral hippocampal atrophy and temporal lobe epilepsy: evidence in support of the Geschwind syndrome?

Bilateral symmetrical hippocampal atrophy (BHA) has been implicated as a possible causal element in various neuropsychiatric disorders, in particular depressive disorder and schizophrenia. To test the hypothesis that bilateral symmetrical severe volume loss of the hippocampi is of causal relevance to these psychiatric syndromes rather than an epiphenomenon we assessed the psychopathology in a group of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and very severe bilateral symmetrical hippocampal atrophy and compared it with that of a patient control group. Patients with TLE and hippocampal volumes smaller than three standard deviations below the mean of a control population were identified and compared with a matched patient population with normal hippocampal volumes.

Differential psychotic symptomatology in polyglot patients: Case reports and their implications.

Polyglot psychotic patients can present with either different or less psychotic symptoms depending on the language they use. No known study has used a structured interview to assess such differences. A language history was taken on three patients who were then assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale structured interview (SCI-PANSS) for schizophrenia in their two languages.