Hypnotic assessment and treatment of trauma-induced psychoses: the early psychotherapy of H. Breukink and modern views.

The role of hypnotizability assessment in the differential diagnosis of psychotic patients is still unresolved. In this article, the pioneering work of Dutch psychiatrist H. Breukink (1860-1928) during the 1920s is used as early evidence that hypnotic capacity is clinically helpful in differentiating highly hypnotizable psychotic patients with dissociative symptomatology from schizophrenics.

Predictors of smoking abstinence following a single-session restructuring intervention with self-hypnosis.

Objective: This study examined the relation of smoking and medical history, social support, and hypnotizability to outcome of a smoking cessation program.

Method: A consecutive series of 226 smokers referred for the smoking cessation program were treated with a single-session habit restructuring intervention involving self-hypnosis. They were then followed up for 2 years.

Psychosocial outcomes of cancer: a comparative analysis of Hodgkin's disease and testicular cancer.

Purpose: The psychosocial outcomes of testicular cancer and Hodgkin's disease were compared to test our hypotheses that more specific dysfunction and less hiding of symptoms would be found in the former group, as cancer visibly affects a sexual organ. Since those with Hodgkin's disease could more easily deny the disease, poorer psychosocial adjustment was predicted.

Patients And Methods: The sample consists of 85 men with Hodgkin's disease and 88 men with testicular cancer (seminomatous, n = 39; or nonseminomatous, n = 49).

Dissociative reactions to the San Francisco Bay Area earthquake of 1989.

Objective: This study systematically evaluated the psychological reactions of a nonclinical population to the October 1989 earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Method: A representative group of about 100 graduate students from two different institutions in the Bay Area volunteered to participate in the study. Within 1 week of the earthquake, the authors administered a checklist of anxiety and dissociative symptoms to the subjects, and 4 months later they conducted a follow-up study with the same checklist.

Trauma and dissociation.

The stress associated with experiencing or witnessing physical trauma can cause abrupt and marked alterations in mental state, including anxiety and transient dissociative symptoms. Intense manifestations of this pattern of response to trauma are described in a new diagnostic category proposed for DSM-IV: acute stress disorder. Severe dissociative symptoms may predict subsequent posttraumatic stress disorder.

Recovery following stretch injury to the sciatic nerve of the rat: an in vivo study.

Stretch injuries to peripheral nerves are often associated with poor recovery, which may relate to both the character and the extent of structural alterations in the nerve trunk. Previous biomechanical studies have provided insight into such structural changes; however most of these investigations have involved the testing of specimens after removal from the body. This investigation presents an in vivo model of nerve stretch injury and correlates functional recovery with different regions of the stress-strain relationship described in previous biomechanical studies.

Serum albumin: a marker for morbidity in peritoneal dialysis patients.

This study was designed to determine if the serum albumin is a marker for morbidity or mortality in peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients. The impact of a low serum albumin on the risk of hospitalization, peritonitis, or death was examined in 71 patients. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), cholesterol, age, and the presence or absence of diabetes were also examined.

Anterior chamber tube shunt to an encircling band (Schocket procedure) in the treatment of refractory glaucoma.

We reviewed a series of 42 eyes in patients with refractory glaucoma who had undergone a Schocket procedure. The mean follow up was 17.5 months; the minimal follow up, 8 months.

Central nervous system toxicity of local anesthetic mixtures in the rat.

Local anesthetics are often administered as mixtures during regional anesthesia. This study investigated whether a synergistic or antagonistic interaction between amide/amide or amide/ester local anesthetic combinations is present with respect to central nervous system toxicity. For surgical preparation, rats were anesthetized with 0.

Reversing nerve-graft polarity in a rat model: the effect on function.

To evaluate the effect of nerve-graft polarity on function, a 1-cm segment of sciatic nerve was excised and reoriented in three groups of 20 adult Sprague-Dawley rats. In one group, the nerve was cut and anastomosed in the original orientation to act as a control. In the second group, the nerve-graft polarity was reversed 180 degrees.

The effect of prestorage irradiation on posttransfusion red cell survival.

Transfusion-associated graft-versus-host disease (TA-GVHD) may occur whenever immunologically competent allogeneic lymphocytes are transfused to an immunocompromised recipient. Irradiation of blood components eliminates the risk of TA-GVHD but may damage the cellular elements in the transfused component, particularly if the cells are stored for prolonged periods in the irradiated state. To study the effect of irradiation on long-term storage of red cells, AS-1 red cells from eight normal subjects were prepared on two occasions.

[Glaucoma parameters of the papilla. Comparison of clinical and stereophotography methods with laser scanning tomography].

The observations recorded by laser tomographic scanner (LTS) and with clinical and stereophotographic evaluation of 40 optic discs in the same glaucomatous patients were compared. Quantitative parameters (vertical and horizontal cup-to-disc ratio) and qualitative parameters (nasal excavation, notch, pseudo-pit, overpass, bayonetting) were evaluated. The correlation coefficients for the quantitative parameter ranged from 0.

Serum amyloid P component: a predictor of clinical beta 2-microglobulin amyloidosis.

Beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2M) amyloidosis is common in patients on long-term hemodialysis, but the clinical conditions associated with disease activity are poorly understood. This study was designed to determine if the serum amyloid P (AP) component concentration is predictive of beta 2M amyloid disease activity. Serum AP component concentrations were determined by rocket immunoelectrophoresis and beta 2M concentrations by a commercially available kit.

Deposition and removal of cutaneous beta 2-microglobulin.

These studies were designed to track the cutaneous deposition of beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2M) in patients on chronic hemodialysis, patients with chronic renal insufficiency and patients with successful renal transplants. Immunoperoxidase staining of skin biopsies from dialysis patients demonstrated significantly increased amounts of beta 2M compared to controls (p < 0.01).

Argon laser trabeculoplasty: long-term follow-up of at least 5 years.

This retrospective study evaluates the long-term follow-up of 331 eyes of 219 patients treated with argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT). A total of 258 eyes were included with a follow-up of at least 5 years. Success was defined as an intraocular pressure of under 22 mm Hg with a stable visual field and optic nerve head.

A case of probable dissociative disorder.

The case of a patient with symptoms suggestive of a dissociative disorder is presented. The consultant reviews the diagnosis of multiple personality disorder (MPD) as defined in DSM-III-R and DSM-IV in relation to the patient's dissociative states, hallucinations, memory loss, and other symptoms. He then highlights the distinctions among MPD, schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, major depression, and complex partial seizures.

Hypnosis and related techniques in pain management.

Hypnosis has been used successfully in treating cancer patients at all stages of disease and for degrees of pain. The experience of pain is influenced not only by physiological factors stemming from disease progression and oncological treatment, but also from psychosocial factors including social support and mood. Each of these influences must be considered in the successful treatment of pain.