Evaluating the evidential value of empirically supported psychological treatments (ESTs): A meta-scientific review.

Empirically supported treatments (or therapies; ESTs) are the gold standard in therapeutic interventions for psychopathology. Based on a set of methodological and statistical criteria, the APA has assigned particular treatment-diagnosis combinations EST status and has further rated their empirical support as Strong, Modest, and/or Controversial. Emerging concerns about the replicability of research findings in clinical psychology highlight the need to critically examine the evidential value of EST research.

Perceptions of Stalking: The Impact of Threat Level and Victim Response.

Because of varying legal definitions across jurisdictions, factors that influence judgments of what constitutes stalking are important to identify. In this study, participants (N = 147) were randomly assigned to read 1 of 4 vignettes involving a hypothetical case of stalking, stemming from a 2 (threat level: explicit vs. implicit) × 2 (victim response: fear vs.

Exercise and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults: A Systematic Meta-Analytic Review.

Depressive symptoms are common in older adults, but antidepressant medications may be contraindicated or poorly tolerated in this population. Intervention studies demonstrate that exercise may be an effective alternative. This meta-analysis included 41 randomized controlled trials of aerobic and nonaerobic exercise interventions investigating the effect of exercise on depressive symptoms in adults aged 60 or older.

A combined measure of vascular risk for white matter lesions.

Background: Though hypertension is a commonly studied risk factor for white matter lesions (WMLs), measures of blood pressure may fluctuate depending on external conditions resulting in measurement error. Indicators of arterial stiffening and reduced elasticity may be more sensitive indicators of risk for WMLs in aging; however the interdependent nature of vascular indicators creates statistical complications.

Objective: The purpose of the study was to determine whether a factor score comprised of multiple vascular indicators would be a stronger predictor of WMLs than traditional measures of blood pressure.

A simple video-based system for examining irregularities in very slow, smooth-pursuit eye movements in cancer patients.

Subjective observations made during routine examination of eye movement functions (orthoptic status) reveal that very slow, smooth-pursuit eye movements in cancer patients are irregular. To objectively measure such movements, a video-based system was built to allow analysis of very slow, smooth-pursuit eye movements (1.8 degrees /s).

A phase II, open-label study of gefitinib (IRESSA) in patients with locally advanced, metastatic, or relapsed renal-cell carcinoma.

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression has been associated with clinical outcome in some studies of renal-cell carcinoma (RCC). We investigated the efficacy and safety of gefitinib (IRESSA), an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in RCC patients. This phase II trial recruited 28 patients with advanced, metastatic, or relapsed RCC.

[Psychofonia--a neurophysiologic music therapy in migraine].

Migraine and other functional disorders are common and often difficult to treat. Alternative treatment modalities are clearly warranted and gain more widespread acceptance. Psychofonia is a new form of music therapy for treating migraine patients.

Initial treatment of sepsis in non-neutropenic patients: ceftazidime alone versus 'best guess' combined antibiotic therapy.

We conducted a prospective, randomized, multicentric study in community hospitals. Patients with clinical sepsis, rectal temperature > or = 38 degrees C and pulse rate > or = 100 bpm were randomized to receive ceftazidime (group CAZ) or a combination of antibiotics freely chosen by the clinician following his 'best guess' (group COMB). On specified grounds, the clinician could also treat patients in an open group with a free combination of antibiotics (group OPEN).

Efficacy and tolerability of 5 mg of cilazapril plus 12.5 mg of hydrochlorothiazide in mild-to-moderate hypertension: results of 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring.

The efficacy and tolerability of a fixed combination of 5 mg of cilazapril and 12.5 mg of hydrochlorothiazide against hypertension was evaluated in 36 patients (26 men and 10 women) between 33-68 years old. Twenty-two had newly diagnosed hypertension and 14 had previously treated hypertension.

[Gastrointestinal hemorrhage: how much evaluation is necessary?].

For this study data from a total of 362 patients covering a time period of 10 years (1979-1989) were analyzed. Referal to the medical outpatient clinic of Zurich occurred in over 90% of the cases for evaluation of incidental iron deficiency anemia or suspected of gastrointestinal bleeding because of melanea/hematemesis. The evaluation comprised endoscopy, in part radiography of the upper intestinal tract and rarely angiography and scintigraphic tracer studies.

[Reversible spinal cord compression caused by extramedullary hematopoietic foci in thalassemia].

A now 42-year-old Thai woman was known to have been anaemic since childhood. When aged 33 years she was diagnosed as having beta zero/HBE thalassaemia. Computed tomography demonstrated a tumour in the posterior mediastinum, histologically found to be an extramedullary haematopoietic focus.

[The "sarcoidosis-lymphoma syndrome"--a lymphocyte dysregulation?].

Sarcoidosis and malignant lymphoma can occur in the same patient; sarcoidosis appears first, the malignant lymphoma follows later. The case histories of three patients illustrate what Brinker first coined as the "sarcoidosis-lymphoma syndrome". In two patients a pulmonary sarcoidosis stage I was diagnosed over 30 years respectively 4 years prior to the histological diagnosis of highly malignant Non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

[Suspicion of anemia-inducing gastrointestinal bleeding: how far should assessment go?].

In a retrospective evaluation of 362 patients with iron deficiency anemia or visible blood loss from the gastrointestinal tract (hematemesis or melena), the bleeding source could not be found in 18% of cases (66 patients) even by extensive gastrointestinal endoscopy. In these cases neither small bowel studies nor repetitive endoscopic examinations increased the diagnostic yield. On the other hand, gastrointestinal endoscopy resulted in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal malignancy in 25 cases, most of whom could be resected curatively.

[Histiocytosis X. Clinical aspects and course in 5 patients].

Histiocytosis X developed in five patients (one woman and four men) when aged between 15 and 44 years. The initial sign in four of them was eosinophilic granuloma of the bone, in one it was pulmonary involvement. In three patients the disease remained confined to bone, while in two it involved the lungs and central nervous system, respectively.

[Malignant lymphoma: a study of an outpatient cohort].

Data from 168 patients with malignant lymphoma were collected. 57 had Hodgkin's disease, 76 suffered from non Hodgkin's lymphoma and 35 presented with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. All patients were treated between January 1980 and December 1986 at the medical policlinic of the university of Zurich either as in- or outpatients.

[Nosebleed, vision disorders].

A 79-year-old man had repeated episodes of nose bleeding, disturbances of vision and anemia. Elevated WBC and lymphocytosis suggested chronic lymphatic leukemia. Serum electrophoresis revealed IgM paraproteinemia.

[Combined GM-CSF and erythropoietin therapy in myelodysplastic syndrome].

A 60-year-old patient with a myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) corresponding to refractory anemia with an increase in blast cells (RAEB) was treated with granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and erythropoietin (EPO) for severe symptomatic pancytopenia. During the GM-CSF treatment a distinct increase in granulocytes was observed, but the reticulocytes and thrombocytes decreased to the point where treatment had to be discontinued after eight days. After subsequent treatment with EPO the reticulocyte count rose from 0% to 2%.

[A gene probe test for serum RNA proteolipid in neoplasia].

We describe for the first time the specific determination of a tumor associated nucleic acid found in 50 of 57 sera from cancer patients. The novel tumor marker "RNA-proteolipid" described by us contains an mRNA of about 10 kilobases. We have established a test to determine this RNA by hybridization.

[Serum erythropoietin levels: a new diagnostic tool?].

The development of highly specific antibodies against recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) has recently made the accurate radioimmunological measurement of serum levels of this hormone possible. In this study we determined the serum-EPO levels in 100 healthy volunteers, in 54 patients suffering from polycythemia vera and in 51 patients with secondary polyglobulia. The mean levels for the healthy group were found to be 11.

[Dyspnea, cough, febrile state].

A 71-year old man was admitted because of increasing dyspnea and fever. Myelomonocytic leukemia was diagnosed on blood films. Diffuse bilateral pulmonary infiltrates detected on chest radiographs were related to the febrile state.

[Plasma cell leukemia].

The following article describes five patients with plasma cell leukemia treated during the last two years at a Medical University Polyclinic. Plasma cell leukemia is a disease which was seen extremely rarely in the past. The disease can develop in patients with multiple myeloma or, even more rarely, as a "de novo" disease.

[Serum erythropoietin levels in several diseases].

The accurate radioimmunological measurement of serum erythropoietin (EPO) levels has only been possible since the development of highly specific antibodies directed against recombinant human EPO. In the present study, we determined the serum EPO levels in 100 healthy volunteers and in over 300 patients with anemias and hyperglobulinemia of various causes. In the healthy group, the females had levels of 11.

[Polycythemia vera: clinical aspects and course in 86 patients].

We analyze symptoms, clinical course, and survival time of 86 patients with polycythemia vera treated between 1966 and 1987 at the medical polyclinic of the University Hospital of Zürich. The mean age of disease onset in 40 men and 46 women studied was 59 years. Most commonly the first symptoms were vertigo and headache (49%) and pain in the extremities (42%).