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Biomedical subjects

F Quitkin

Publications and source records attributed to F Quitkin.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1978

Are prophylactic antiparkinson drugs necessary? A controlled study of procyclidine withdrawal.

Of 55 aftercare patients receiving long-term treatment with antipsychotic and antiparkinson (AP) drugs, 37 were switched to being given placebo, and 18 remained on a regimen of procyclidine hydrochloride. The dose of antipsychotic was kept constant. After three weeks extrapyramidal side effects (EPS) developed in 54% of those patients receiving placebo and in none of those receiving procyclidine (P less than .002): Twenty-seven percent of the placebo group had EPS without akinesia, and in the same percentage akinesia developed (P = .003). We believe the risk-benefit ratio favors the routine use of AP drugs for prophylaxis and maintenance so as to avoid misdiagnosing as psychopathology, unspontaneity due to akinesia, and to reduce unreliable pill-taking due to EPS.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Long-acting oral vs injectable antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenics: a one-year double-blind comparison in multiple episode schizophrenics.

Sixty patients meeting the criteria established for schizophrenia who attained a clinical plateau following hospital discharge were randomized to receive for one year either penfluridol, 20 to 160 mg orally once each week, or fluphenazine decanoate, 0.5 to 4 ml every two weeks. The relapse rate for both treatments was low and equal. The rate of recurrence of psychosis for patients receiving penfluridol was 7% and for those receiving fluphenazine decanoate 10%. A retrospective comparison of the penfluridol group was made to a similar group of patients assigned to placebo in an earlier study. Placebo-treated patients had a relapse rate of 68%. Penfluridol patients had statistically fewer psychotic relapses. Questions about the possible carcinogenicity of penfluridol in animals will have to be resolved before it can be widely used. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using an oral, long-acting antipsychotic agent. It would be a useful psychopharmacologic addition in the treatment of outpatient schizophrenics.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1978

Comparison of the incidence and severity of extrapyramidal side effects with fluphenazine enanthate and fluphenazine decanoate.

Forty-nine schizophrenic outpatients stabilized on oral antipsychotic medication and procyclidine received 12.5 mg or 18.75 mg of fluphenazine enanthate or fluphenazine decanoate and were examined for extrapyramidal side effects one and two weeks later. Extrapyramidal side effects were present in 30 patients (61%) but were clinically significant in only 11 (22%). Fluphenazine enanthate produced more clinically significant extrapyramidal symptoms, particularly akathisia, than did fluphenazine decanoate.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Prophylactic effect of lithium and imipramine in unipolar and bipolar II patients: a preliminary report.

Relapse rates of the first 35 unipolar and bipolar II manic-depressive patients who entered the controlled phase of a continuing evaluation of the prophylactic value of lithium alone or in combination with imipramine were analyzed. Lithium had a prophylactic effect in unipolar patients and possibly in bipolar II patients. Imipramine did not have a prophylactic effect in either group of patients.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1978

Imipramine response in deluded depressive patients.

The authors examined how delusions and other psychotic features influenced treatment outcome with imipramine in patients with primary depression. Global improvement scores indicated that delusions or other evidence of psychosis do not contraindicate imipramine treatment. This finding does not support a recent report suggesting that deluded depressive patients should not be treated with imipramine. Possible explanations of the discrepancy between these two studies are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Extrapyramidal side effects with lithium treatment.

The authors neurologically examined 38 patients who had received lithium carbonate for from 3 months to 5 years to determine the presence of extrapyramidal side effects. No patient had received neuroleptics for 3 months before examination. Definite cogwheeling was found in 2 patients. The results confirm previously reported occurrence of cogwheeling in lithium-treated patients.

Adult↗
PubMed1977

Fluphenazine decanoate, fluphenazine hydrochloride given orally, and placebo in remitted schizophrenics. I. Relapse rates after one year.

In a simple remitted, nonpsychotic schizophrenics, the relapse rate within one year was significantly higher for those patients taking placebo as opposed to those taking fluphenazine hydrochloride orally or fluphenazine decanoate. There were no differences in relapse rates between the two active drugs, but there were significantly more terminations due to toxicity from fluphenazine decanoate than from pluphenazine given orally, entirely due to the fact that in 35% of patients receiving fluphenazine decanoate, severe akinesia developed.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1977

Fluphenazine decanoate, oral fluphenazine, and placebo in treatment of remitted schizophrenics. II. Rating scale data.

This study of patients with remitted chronic schizophrenia in an aftercare clinic was designed to test whether such patients require maintenance antipsychotic medication. A previous report showed that the group receiving active medication, fluphenazine decanoate and oral fluphenazine, had far fewer relapses; but the former group had a high incidence of akinesia. This present report presents rating scale data substantiating these two findings: (1) patients terminated on clinical grounds because of a schizophrenic relapse showed rating scale changes consistent with that diagnosis; and (2) the patients removed due to severe akinesia showed a worsening on items selected a priori to measure akinesia, and when compared to survivors on the same items, showed significant differences--thus confirming our clinical judgments.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1977

Tardive dyskinesia: are first signs reversible?

Although tardive dyskinesia, a serious and sometimes irreversible side effect of antipsychotic drug use, is becoming increasingly common, there is still considerable confusion concerning the course of the syndrome. The authors observed 12 psychiatric patients with tardive dyskinesia from the inception of the syndrome. They found that first symptoms rarely persisted if antipsychotics were discontinued and concluded that the length of time symptoms have persisted prior to drug discontinuation, not age at onset, may be the major variable determining reversibility of the syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1976

Prophylaxis of affective disorders. Current status of knowledge.

A review of all properly controlled studies clearly indicates that lithium carbonate is prophylactic for mania in bipolar patients; it is suggestive of prophylaxis for depression in both bipolar and unipolar patients. Studies are outlined that would clarify lithium carbonate's prophylactic effect for depression in these two patient groups. Continuation therapy with antidepressants reduces incidences of recurrence in unipolar depressives. The only controlled study indicates that tricyclic antidepressants may have prophylactic effect in unipolar patients. This finding needs confirmation. Data are insufficient for conclusions on prophylactic treatment for schizoaffective disorders.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed1976

Neurologic soft signs in schizophrenia and character disorders. Organicity in schizophrenia with premorbid asociality and emotionally unstable character disorders.

Previous studies indicated that for two subgroups of patients, schizophrenics with premorbid asociality (SPA) and individuals with emotionally unstable character disorders (EUCD), central nervous system damage may have etiologic significance. It was hypothesized that these two patient groups would also have an increased number of neurologic soft signs. The relationship of neurologic examination, tests of auditory-visual integration, and intelligence quotient, and diagnoses was studied for 350 patients. Tests of reliability and persistence for all observed signs were performed. The EUCD and SPA groups had increased evidence of neurologic soft signs. Differences in patterns of IQ scores also suggest that different forms of brain damage may be present in these two groups. When the two groups were removed from the larger patient sample, those patients with other types of schizophrenia and character disorder did not exhibit evidence of neurologic impairment. This study of neurologic soft signs adds to the validity of considering SPA and EUCD as separate diagnostic entities.

Central Nervous System Diseases↗