A controlled dose-ranging study of remoxipride and haloperidol in schizophrenia--a Canadian multicentre trial.

The efficacy and side-effect profile for three dose ranges of remoxipride were compared with haloperidol in 242 schizophrenic inpatients in 13 centres. All patients were in a productive phase of schizophrenia according to DSM-III criteria. Relative efficacy of low dose (30-90 mg daily) vs middle dose (120-240 mg daily) vs high dose (300-600 mg daily) was compared with the standard dose of haloperidol (15-45 mg daily), as were the side effects.

Measurement of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents.

In summary, symptom checklists and rating scales are a cost-effective means of deriving an extensive amount of clinical information in a relatively short period of time. Measures designed to assess affect in children have primarily been self-report inventories owing to the subjective nature of the constructs being assessed. However, subscales for the assessment of anxiety and depression by significant others (parent, teacher, clinician) can be found on more general measures of behavior such as the Conners' Parent and Teacher Rating Scales, the Achenbach Parent and Teacher Forms of the Child Behavior Checklist, and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale for Children.

Phenomenology of anxiety and depressive disorders in children and adolescents.

In recent years, clinicians and researchers have demonstrated renewed interest in the study of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents. There is difficulty in determining the constituents' characteristics of, and distinguishing between, anxiety and depression. Further understanding of the phenomenology of these disorders may result from observation, by attending to the subjective experiences of the child and adolescent, and by studying the biologic factors associated with anxiety and depressive disorders.

Epidemiology of affective and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents.

Epidemiologic studies in psychiatry in general, and child psychiatry in particular, represent a new focus. Certain disease entities in children and adolescents are better studied than others. Depression and anxiety of childhood seem to exemplify this statement.

The relationship of anxiety to depression in children and adolescents.

The relationship of anxiety to depression in children and adolescents has perplexed and preoccupied researchers and professionals in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry over the last two decades. This article illustrates this as it is demonstrated through epidemiologic, genetic, and biologic issues as well as environmental and developmental considerations and investigated procedures. The relevant literature is reviewed in depth, and the discussion on the inter-relatedness of the various factors, as they influence anxiety and depression, is brought forth.

Parent satisfaction in a child psychiatric service.

The development and use is reported of a client satisfaction questionnaire to be answered by parents of children and adolescents referred to an outpatient psychiatric program. The structure of the questionnaire and the results from a first application are reported. It is suggested that a client satisfaction questionnaire may become an important feedback instrument useful for service planning.

Pediatric psychopharmacology.

This article is a brief and selected overview of pediatric psychopharmacology, a field which links medicine, behavioural sciences, and neurosciences to child psychiatry. It will summarize current knowledge and recent advances related to the indications, effects, limitations and research issues of psychostimulants, antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, anticonvulsants and diets used in the treatment of child and adolescent psychiatric disorders.

Female arsonists: a clinical study.

This paper is a detailed study of a sample of 15 female arsonists. A review of the literature suggests that arson is seen more frequently in males with female firesetters usually comprising 10 to 18% of the samples of firesetters studied. As a result, female arsonists have been studied less often, and only a few authors have reported on their clinical features.

Observed changes in the functioning of nursing home residents after relocation.

This study investigated the effects of environmental changes on the functioning of nursing home residents who were relocated to a newly built facility. Assessment via a multidimensional observation scale revealed that the physical functioning and orientation of the relocated residents were not affected. A stabilizing effect on mood was noted along with a relative increase in withdrawn behavior.

A review of trimipramine. 30 years of clinical use.

The hybrid chemical structure of trimipramine incorporates an imipramine nucleus and levomepromazine side chain. This structure predicts much of the clinical profile of trimipramine. The initial studies on trimipramine date back nearly 30 years.

Effects of low-yield cigarettes on electroencephalographic dynamics.

Previous research had indicated that the smoking of medium tar and nicotine (T/N) yield cigarettes produced a psychostimulant action on electroencephalographic (EEG) activity which was apparent after a single cigarette and was evident as early as the fourth puff. The present study adopted the identical smoking and recording procedure to examine whether low-T/N yield cigarettes produced qualitatively similar EEG profiles as previously observed with medium-yield cigarettes. Although the results indicated similarities in post-smoking EEG profiles of low- and medium-yield cigarettes, discrepancies with several EEG components and temporal (puff-by-puff) EEG features suggested that low-yield cigarettes may exert less impact on brain electric activity.

Delusions and mood disorders in patients with chronic aphasia.

Sixty-one inpatients manifesting chronic aphasic syndromes were reviewed. Most aphasic patients with behavioral abnormalities sufficiently severe to require hospitalization had posterior hemispheric lesions and fluent disorders. Thirty-eight (62%) had fluent aphasia, eight (13%) had nonfluent aphasia, and 15 (25%) had anomic, global, or transcortical aphasic syndromes.

Brain electrical imaging the dose-response effects of cigarette smoking.

Quantitative regional electroencephalographic (EEG) effects of cigarette smoking were examined within a repeated measures design which assessed, and topographically displayed, changes in power spectral estimates resulting from the smoking of low, medium and high tar/nicotine (T/N) yield cigarettes. Although intercigarette yield comparisons revealed no significant EEG differences between yields, comparison of the effects of smoking each yield with sham smoking indicated the presence of a qualitative dose-response effect whereby increasing T/N yields resulted in a progressive posterior-to-anterior spreading of significant relative power changes within both theta and alpha frequency bands. These exploratory findings are discussed in relation to smoking maintenance and working hypotheses are formulated for future testing.

The cortical dementias.

A striking accumulation of new technologies and recent diverse research developments open new insight into the nature of primary dementias. The gene of the familial form of Alzheimer's disease was located in the chromosome 21. By further study of the amyloid protein precursor gene, laboratory diagnosis and eventual treatment of Alzheimer's disease may become a reality.

Psychiatric disorders in adopted children: a controlled study.

The number of adopted children referred to a Canadian psychiatric service was found to be greater than warranted by their ratio in the community. They presented more with conduct disorders and less with anxiety disorders and were significantly more impaired than the controls.

Hypothalamic pathology in the neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

The pathogenesis of the neuroleptic malignant syndrome is currently unclear, and no specific morphological abnormalities in the CNS of victims of neuroleptic malignant syndrome have been described. The authors report a case of neuroleptic malignant syndrome with recent foci of necrosis in the anterior and lateral hypothalamic nuclei. They discuss the role of tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors, and neuroleptics in the development of this syndrome.

Satanism in a psychiatric adolescent population.

In a university affiliated adolescent psychiatric facility, providing approximately 250 consultations per year, an unsuspectedly high prevalence of preoccupation with "satanism" was found in referred adolescents. Interested by the phenomenon, the authors have identified and documented eight cases in an attempt to isolate common characteristics among the cases. Initially a link between the marginal cult belief and general maladjustment was hypothesized, specifically delinquent behaviour.

Effects of antidepressants on thinking styles in depressed inpatients.

1. Clinical and empirical evidence point to distorted negative thinking during depressive episodes. 2.

Neuropsychophysiological correlates of lactate-induced panic.

1. One of the simplest and most direct applications of neuropsychophysiological techniques is to anxiety disorders. 2.

Dynamic EEG changes during cigarette smoking.

Electroencephalograms were monitored before, during and after smoking a single cigarette. Quantitative analysis indicated that smoking produced a characteristic psychostimulant profile involving power reductions in delta and theta and increases in both alpha power and peak alpha frequency. Puff-by-puff analysis yielded similar patterns with the effects emerging by the fourth puff.

Alprazolam effects in children with anxiety disorders.

Children with overanxious and/or avoidant disorder (DSM-III) were treated with alprazolam (Xanax, Upjohn) to determine its safety, clinical and cognitive effects. Ten male and two female patients (age range 8.8 to 16.

Fire fetishism, diagnostic and clinical implications: a review of two cases.

From the 19th century and early writings on the subject, psychosexual factors have been reported to play a role in pyromania. After a brief review of the literature on firesetting and pyromania, two cases of arsonists are presented in which fire appears to be part of a fetish. Full sexual behaviours assessments were completed, therefore providing objective findings.

The relationship between anxiety and depression in children: rating scales and clinical variables.

The present study examined the relationship between anxiety and depression in children in the context of proposed adult models. The results support the qualitative distinction between anxious and depressed patient groups on subsets of rating scale measures and clinical variables. In contrast to anxious children who were younger, (day patients) had been ill for longer than one year, presented with behavioral problems, and were low on observer ratings of depressive symptoms; depressed children were older, (inpatients) had been ill for less than one year, presented with emotional problems and were high on observer ratings of both anxious and depressive symptoms.

Acute effects of tobacco on human brain stem evoked potentials.

Reports of tobacco-induced electrocortical activation have frequently indicated that this effect is mediated via nicotine's action on sub-cortical structures. This study focused on human brain stem involvement by examining the acute effects of tobacco smoking on brain stem auditory potentials (BSAEPs). Twelve regular smokers were tested on two separate sessions involving sham or real smoking.