New and Known Variants in a Series of Latin American Patients with Holoprosencephaly.

Holoprosencephaly (HPE) is the failure of the embryonic forebrain to develop into 2 hemispheres promoting midline cerebral and facial defects. The wide phenotypic variability and causal heterogeneity make genetic counseling difficult. Heterozygous variants with incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity in the , , , and genes explain ∼25% of the known causes of nonchromosomal HPE.

High mortality, violence and crime in alcohol dependents: 5 years after seeking treatment in a Brazilian underprivileged suburban community.

Objective: To investigate the results of alcohol-related consequences in an underprivileged area of São Paulo.

Method: One hundred and ninety one adult patients who sought alcohol treatment in 2002 were reassessed in 2007 regarding alcohol use and involvement with crime. The interview consisted of demographic questions and questionnaires assessing alcohol dependence and pattern of alcohol use.

Mortality rate among crack/cocaine-dependent patients: a 12-year prospective cohort study conducted in Brazil.

Mortality is a significant outcome among Brazilian crack/cocaine-dependent patients yet not well understood and is under investigated. This study examined a range of mortality indicators within a cohort of 131 crack/cocaine-dependent patients admitted into treatment and meeting criteria for dependence of crack (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition). After 12 years of treatment discharge, 107 individuals were reassessed and 27 death cases were confirmed by official records, wherein in its majority were caused by homicide (n = 16).

Effect of motivational interviewing on reduction of alcohol use.

Background: Methadone-maintained (MM) clients who engage in excessive alcohol use are at high risk for HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Nurse-led hepatitis health promotion (HHP) may be one strategy to decrease alcohol use in this population.

Objective: To evaluate the impact of nurse-led HHP, delivered by nurses compared to motivational interviewing (MI), delivered by trained therapists in group sessions or one-on-one on reduction of alcohol use.

Correlates of alcohol use among methadone-maintained adults.

This prospective study (n=190) examined correlates of alcohol use from baseline data of a longitudinal trial conducted among moderate and heavy alcohol users receiving methadone maintenance therapy (MMT). The sample included MMT clients who were 18-55 years of age, and were receiving MMT from five large methadone maintenance clinics in the Los Angeles area. Half of the sample was heavy drinkers and nearly half (46%) reported heroin use.

Alcohol use reduction program in methadone maintained individuals with hepatitis C virus infection.

The purpose of this article was to investigate the personal and social barriers experienced by methadone maintained clients when seeking treatment for alcohol abuse along with strategies for engaging such clients in treatment programs. A qualitative design using semi-structured focus groups was used to obtain the perspectives of 41 methadone-maintained clients in Los Angeles, California. Sessions were recorded, transcribed, and content-analyzed.

Perceptions of methadone maintained clients about barriers and facilitators to help-seeking behavior.

Background: Among substance users, health seeking remains a major challenge for which few data are available.

Objectives: We sought to investigate the perceptions of methadone-maintained heroin users who are also problem or heavy drinkers, their barriers and facilitators to seeking help for substance and general and chronic care treatment.

Methods: A qualitative design using a semistructured focus group approach was conducted with a convenience sample of 41 adult clients of a methadone maintenance facility in Los Angeles.

A comparison of craving and emotional states between pathological gamblers and alcoholics.

Fifty pathological gamblers and 42 alcohol dependent subjects were compared regarding craving, emotional states and social functioning. Subjects self-rated their cravings using the Weiss Craving Scale (WCS) and the Pennsylvania Craving Scale (PCS). Subjects answered a semi-structured interview, the Positive and Negative Affect Scale Extended Form (PANAS-X), and the Social Adjustment Scale (SAS-SR).

The gambling follow-up scale: development and reliability testing of a scale for pathological gamblers under treatment.

Objective: To provide preliminary data on the Gambling Follow-Up Scale (GFS), a new scale assessing recovering gamblers. Secondary goals included assessing the impact of "work status," "family relationship," "leisure," and "enrolment in Gamblers Anonymous (GA)" on gambling (all items from the scale), together with the impact of treatment.

Method: Using the GFS, 3 independent raters interviewed gamblers under treatment.