[Psychiatric disorders in epilepsy: an update].

Although there is good clinical evidence suggesting that the psychiatric disorders of epilepsy are clinically distinct, they do not find a place in the current classification systems. To develop a useful classification of the psychopathology of epilepsy, it is important to embrace not only the spectrum of psychiatric diagnoses as given by current psychiatric terminology, as in ICD-10 and DSM-IV, but also those diagnoses related to the classification of seizures and epilepsy. This should be combined with considerable clinical experience in understanding these associations.

Characteristics of bipolar disorder patients given antidepressants.

Evidence concerning efficacy of antidepressants in bipolar disorder remains inconsistent and inconclusive. As the appropriate clinical use for such patients remains unclear, we characterized outpatients with bipolar disorders who were or were not treated with antidepressants. Clinical data were collected systematically from consecutive outpatients in 11 participating Argentine mood-disorder clinics in 2007-2008.

[Validation of the Argentine version of the Mood Disorder Questionnaire].

Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a severe and recurrent medical illness with relevant impact on quality of life and functioning for patients. However, we still have significant deficits on its detection. One of the ways to improve the accurate recognition of the disease consists on the administration of screening tools such as the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ).

Sensitivity and specificity of the mood disorder questionnaire and the bipolar spectrum diagnostic scale in Argentinean patients with mood disorders.

Objective: To assess the sensitivity and specificity of two self-report instruments for detection of bipolarity in a sample of Argentinean patients.

Method: Spanish versions of the MDQ and the BSDS were administered over four months at 11 sites in Argentina. Diagnoses were made using DSM-IV criteria and the MINI.

[2nd Argentine consensus on the treatment of bipolar disorders 2010].

The consensus guidelines of Argentine experts in the treatment of bipolar disorders are the result of three days of work of the 9 main local experts under the organization of the Argentine Association of Mood Disorders (ASATHU). This work is an update of the guidelines published on this journal in 2006. It was adopted a mixed criterion for its preparation: all the recent data of the evidence medicine based published until now were discussed and were balanced with the knowledge acquired from clinical experience of the local experts on the bipolar field.

[STAR* D study: searching strategies regarding lack of response to an SSRI].

STAR*D, the biggest investigation ever conducted on the treatment of major depression, was aimed to determine prospectively which of several treatments is the most effective "next step" for patients who do not reach remission with an initial or subsequent treatment or who cannot tolerate the treatment. Its main findings show that: 1) Monotherapy remission rates are low; 2) There were no outcome differences in changing to another SSRI, to a dual reuptake inhibitor o to another mechanism of action. 3) Augmentation strategies worked perhaps better in patients with partial response and good citalopram tolerability.

[Depression and quality of life].

A narrative review is made on the subject, highlighting the research conducted in our country under the direction and support of FUNDONAR Foundation, by the use of the World Health Organization transcultural quality of life measure (WHOQOL). Quality of life measurements have shown the strong impact of depression on people's well being, and also on all life aspects that they believe important, depending on their personal and cultural expectations. Quality of life was considerably poorer in depressed persons than in individuals with some other frequent chronic diseases.

Bipolar disorders and affective temperaments: a national family study testing the "endophenotype" and "subaffective" theses using the TEMPS-A Buenos Aires.

Background: The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence of affective temperaments between clinically unaffected relatives of bipolar patients and secondarily to investigate the impact of these "subaffective" forms on their quality of life (QoL).

Methods: The study was performed in seven sites across Argentina. We administered the scales TEMPS-A and Quality of Life Index to a sample of 114 non-ill first degree relatives of bipolar disorder patients ("cases") and 115 comparison subjects without family history of affective illness ("controls").

[Argentine consensus on the treatment of bipolar disorders].

The consensus guidelines of argentine experts in the treatment of bipolar disorders are the result of three days of work of the 10 main local experts under the organization of the Argentine Association of Biological Psychiatry (AAPB). It was adopted a mixed criterion for its preparation: all the recent data of the evidence medicine based published until now were discussed and were balanced with the knowledge acquired from clinical experience of the local experts on the bipolar field. It presents general recommendations and suggested therapeutic sequences for the phase of maintenance, the manic/hypomanic or mixed episode and the depressive episode.

[Interactions of mood stabilizers].

This review on the drug-drug interactions of mood stabilizers is aimed to be practical and clinically relevant. Polypharmacy has became the most frequent approach in the treatment of bipolar disorders, and patients given with a long term treatment are expected to suffer occasionally medical intercurrences, which in turn lead to prescriptions of other drugs. Both factors render a possibility of drug-drug interactions rather frequent.

[Psychotic depression].

This paper will bring a brief overview of the clinical aspects of psychotic depression, with emphasis in the differentiation between mood-congruent and mood-incongruent delusions. Biological aspects of this disorder will be reviewed. Changes have been found in serotonergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission and also a characteristic shortening of REM latency.