Prenatal tobacco smoke exposure, risk of schizophrenia, and severity of positive/negative symptoms.

Prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke causes chronic fetal hypoxia, dysregulation of endocrine equilibrium, and disruption of fetal neurodevelopment associated with brain malfunction, all of which potentially could induce vulnerability to schizophrenia. A total of 212 schizophrenia patients aged 14-30years, and 212 matched controls were studied. Prenatal tobacco smoke exposure of the schizophrenia patients was compared to that of the normal controls by applying logistic regression analysis and controlling for several confounding factors.

Bodily manifestations in the psychoanalytic process.

The broadening scope of psychoanalysis has brought to the fore patients whose unconscious conflicts tend to be literally played out on the stage of the body. In these cases, the body seems to be predominantly used in a concrete, not symbolic, way in order to express underlying conflicts. In a similar vein, transference and countertransference can be manifested via the body.

Assessment of sexual function in patients with cancer undergoing radiotherapy--a single centre prospective study.

Aim: The main objective was to delineate the rates and clinical course of sexual function and depression in cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy.

Patients And Methods: Forty-eight male and 90 female radiotherapy-naive outpatients with breast or pelvic cancer completed the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) or the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), and the Hamilton Depression Scale (HDS) prior to (phase 1), at the end of (phase 2) and 12 months after radiotherapy (phase 3).

Results: Overall, the majority of patients (93.

Repression and splitting in the psychoanalytic process.

The authors examine the concepts of repression and splitting and their interplay during the psychoanalytic process. Initially, repression was introduced by the clinical phenomenon of resistance, leading to the formulation of the association between intrapsychic conflicts and neurotic symptoms. Later, repression was linked to normal development and to personality organization.

Sex differences in prepsychotic "prodromal" symptomatology and its association with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale active phase psychopathology in male and female patients.

Background: A wide spectrum of prodromal symptoms has been reported, but their association with the severity of the active phase psychopathology in relationship to sex is unknown.

Method: Seventy-three (47 male) Diganostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) schizophrenia patients were subjected to the structured clinical interview for Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Prodromal symptoms were recorded retrospectively after psychotic phase had subsided.

Cortical motor neurophysiology of patients with schizophrenia: a study using transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Trancranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) provides a non-invasive means for exploring physiological alterations of central motor control in a variety of neuropsychiatric diseases. The present study aimed to assess the neurophysiological profile of muscle evoked responses to a standard TMS procedure in 51 medicated patients with schizophrenia and 51 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) from the abductor pollicis brevis muscle were elicited by stimulation of the contralateral motor cortex with a circular coil.

Relationship of "prodromal" symptoms with severity and type of psychopathology in the active phase of schizophrenia.

Background: Both retrospective and prospective studies have identified a broad spectrum of "prodromal" symptoms, but their relationship to those of frank psychosis remains largely unexplored.

Method: In 73 successive hospitalized patients with schizophrenia in the first or second psychotic episode and with duration of illness 3 years or less from the onset of psychosis, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, Axis I diagnoses were made. In addition, within the first 5 days from the psychotic episode's onset, symptom severity was assessed with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).

Persistent suppression of postexercise facilitation of motor evoked potentials during alternate phases of bipolar disorder.

The current study sought to longitudinally evaluate the postexercise facilitation of motor evoked potentials (MEP) in two patients during different phases of short-circle depressive-manic disorder. Each study included 50 baseline MEP elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation, followed by 50 MEP immediately after nonfatiguing exercise of the examined muscle. Postexercise MEP facilitation, expressed as percentage of baseline value, varied from 71% to 119% and from 99% to 107% in each patient, respectively, being significantly lower than our mean normal control value (268%).

Quetiapine successfully treating oculogyric crisis induced by antipsychotic drugs.

We report two patients who developed persistent oculogyric crisis, obsessional thoughts and psychiatric symptoms after prolonged treatment with typical and atypical antipsychotics. Both our patients did not improve after withdrawal of these antipsychotics, but rather after quetiapine was administered.

Association of cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms in a forensic population.

The link between mental health issues and smoking has been an important area of investigation. However, little is known about this association in a general adult, male forensic population. The aim of this study was to identify demographic and clinical (depression and anxiety) variables that predict smoking in a forensic population.

Quetiapine in the treatment of focal tardive dystonia induced by other atypical antipsychotics: a report of 2 cases.

The authors report 2 patients with schizophrenia who developed focal tardive dystonia secondary to treatment with atypical antipsychotics (risperidone, olanzapine). When quetiapine was gradually introduced and other antipsychotics were discontinued, these patients experienced remarkable and sustained improvement of their dystonic symptoms, without loss of psychotic symptom control. The mechanism by which quetiapine may improve tardive dystonia caused by other atypical antipsychotics is unclear.

Major depression and risk of depressive symptomatology associated with short-term and low-dose interferon-alpha treatment.

Objective: The objective of this study is to identify early patients who are at-risk for major depression (MD) induced by interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) and evaluate the response of depressive symptoms to antidepressants.

Methods: Thirty-six consecutive patients were treated with IFN-alpha. Psychiatric evaluations were performed prior to, and at 1 and 2 months after onset of therapy and upon completion of the study.

Induction of the rabbit syndrome following coadministration of paroxetine, perphenazine, and amitriptyline.

The authors present a case of paroxetine-induced rabbit syndrome in a 65-year-old white woman. To their knowledge, this is the first report in the literature describing rabbit syndrome induced by the administration of a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor-specifically, paroxetine in combination with perphenazine and amitriptyline.

Psychopathology and behavioural trends of children with accidental poisoning.

Objective: To study the psychopathology of both young children with accidental poisoning and their mothers, measure the poisoned children's trends of behaviour and explore whether there is an association between parental smoking and poisoning in children.

Methods: The psychopathology of 150 poisoned and 150 matched control young children, and their mothers was studied according to DSM-IV criteria. Children's perceptions of behaviour were examined by a measure assessing internalizing and externalizing behaviour.

Characteristics of inmates receiving prescribed benzodiazepines in a high-security Greek prison.

The aim of the current study was to investigate the characteristics of Greek inmates that were taking regularly benzodiazepines (BZDs) at therapeutic doses, in the high-security prison of Patras, Greece. Three hundred eighty-four prisoners were included in the study. BZD users (BUs, n = 192), compared with non-BZD users (NBUs, n = 192), were significantly more often unemployed before imprisonment; were significantly more often single, divorced, or widowed; were significantly more often on remand; were taking in significantly greater proportions antidepressant and antipsychotic medications; had significantly more often a history of psychiatric hospitalization; and had significantly more often a history of illicit intravenous (IV) drug use.

Symptomatology of the initial prodromal phase in schizophrenia.

The initial prodromal symptoms in schizophrenia were studied in 100 DSM-diagnosed patients and 100 controls. The median number of symptoms in the patients and the controls was 8 (range 2-13) and 0 (range 0-5), respectively. Patients developed symptoms indicating social, occupational, and affective dysfunction, whereas the controls' symptoms included magical content and disturbance in mood.

Effect of exercise on motor evoked potentials elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation in psychiatric patients.

Under normal conditions, motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation increase in amplitude if the subject exercises the examined muscle immediately before recording. The authors examined the effect of nonfatiguing exercise on the amplitude of MEPs on 42 psychiatric, medicated inpatients (14 with depression, 14 with schizophrenia, and 14 with mania) compared with 14 healthy control subjects. For each subject, a total of 50 baseline and 50 postexercise MEPs were recorded.