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Biomedical subjects

L Grunhaus

Publications and source records attributed to L Grunhaus.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
PubMed1987

Myoclonic seizures after abrupt withdrawal from phenelzine and alprazolam.

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are being used more frequently in the treatment of various psychiatric and neurological disorders. Although adverse effects of MAOI treatment are widely known, withdrawal symptoms are less well known. They include nausea, sweating, palpitations, nightmares, and psychosis. Withdrawal reactions from combination therapy with an MAOI and another agent are seldom described. Reported here is the occurrence of myoclonic seizures after the abrupt discontinuation of phenelzine and alprazolam. Alterations in the GABA and serotonin neurotransmitter systems as a result of withdrawal of the MAOI and the benzodiazepine may account for the seizures.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Imipramine and tinnitus.

Although tinnitus is listed among the rare neurologic side effects of tricyclic antidepressants, little is known about its prevalence, mechanism of development, course, and management. A chart review of 475 patients treated with tricyclic antidepressants indicated that tinnitus occurred in about 1% of the patients. The case vignettes of 5 patients who developed tinnitus in the course of imipramine therapy are presented. Each developed tinnitus in the second or third week of treatment with imipramine at daily dosages of 150-250 mg and at combined plasma imipramine-desipramine levels between 200-450 ng/ml. In each patient, tinnitus subsided spontaneously within 2-4 weeks of onset without any specific treatment, even though the daily dosage of imipramine and the plasma tricyclic levels were constant or increased. Possible mechanisms of development of tinnitus and implications for tricyclic antidepressant therapy are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Relationships of the dexamethasone suppression test to clinical severity and degree of melancholia.

Investigators continue to debate whether the Dexamethasone Suppression Test (DST) reflects clinical severity or degree of melancholia ("endogeneity"). To evaluate this question, we studied 73 drug-free inpatients diagnosed with Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia/Research Diagnostic Criteria (SADS/RDC) as having major depressive disorder (MDD). We compared absolute and dichotomous DST values (DST suppression versus nonsuppression) with absolute and dichotomous measures of endogeneity (as measured by operationally defined RDC items) and with Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) scores that were collected immediately prior to treatment. We found that degree of endogeneity correlated moderately (r = 0.27) but significantly (p = 0.02) with absolute DST values; DST nonsuppression increased proportionately with changes in categorical endogenous subtype (0% of the nonendogenous patients were nonsuppressives, 52% of probable endogenous, and 61% of subjects definitely endogenous); mean values for maximum DST concentrations increased steadily with categorical endogeneity (nonendogenous, 1.44 microgram/dl; probable endogenous, 7.65 micrograms/dl; definite, 10.93 micrograms/dl; p = 0.01); HRSD scores correlated more strongly (r = 0.45, p = 0.000) with maximum DST levels than did the degree of endogeneity. Age and weight changes did not account for the relationship of endogeneity to DST values. These data suggest that maximum postdexamethasone plasma cortisol levels reflect overall severity of depression and endogeneity and that endogeneity per se is highly confounded with severity.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Simultaneous panic and depressive disorders: clinical and sleep EEG correlates.

Panic and depressive symptoms occur simultaneously in many depressed patients. To study the frequency of this association and to determine whether patients with simultaneous panic and major depression differed from those with only major depressive disorder (MDD) in clinical features and in sleep electroencephalographic (EEG) variables, we evaluated a total sample of 336 patients with MDD. Fifty-eight (17%) had both panic and MDD; 50 had complete data and were matched for age and severity of illness with other patients having only MDD. Patients with simultaneous panic and depression had significantly higher ratings for psychic and somatic anxiety, and rapid eye movement (REM) latencies approximating normal values. Patients with only MDD (without panic disorder) rated significantly higher in guilt feelings and had shorter REM latencies. Our results suggest that the simultaneous occurrence of panic and depression is relatively frequent, is accompanied by differences in sleep EEG variables, and may have implications for treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Age effects in serial hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal monitoring.

To evaluate age effects on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) regulation in depressives, we studied 65 patients with major depressive disorder, endogenous subtype. With each patient serving as his or her own control, we compared weekly dexamethasone suppression test (DST) results among three age subgroups (less than 40 years, n = 18; 40-70 years, n = 40; greater than 70 years, n = 7). The oldest patient group had higher mean post-dexamethasone plasma cortisol concentrations both before and after treatment, and more were DST nonsuppressors. Life table analyses revealed that elderly patients who were DST nonsuppressors had significantly slower patterns of normalization during treatment and that fewer elderly patients ever achieved normal suppression. The results indicate that age effects on HPA function may be confounded with other aspects of depression, such as severity, chronicity and number of previous episodes.

Adult↗
PubMed1986

Profound behavioral toxicity due to tricyclic antidepressants.

The incidence of tricyclic antidepressant-induced behavioral toxicity appears to be fairly high in elderly patients but has rarely been reported in the young. We present a case of significant behavioral side effects in a young woman secondary to elevated plasma levels of imipramine and desipramine, masquerading as an agitated psychotic depression.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1986

Simultaneous panic and depressive disorder: response to antidepressant treatments.

Recent publications have stressed the relevance of the simultaneous panic disorder and major depressive disorder (MDD) diagnosis from various aspects, including clinical, therapeutic and prognostic, incidence of family psychopathology, and biologic differences. Treatment outcome measures (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale scores and treatment response) were compared in two groups of patients; one group had MDD alone (N = 8) and the other had simultaneous panic disorder and MDD (N = 8). Patients with MDD alone responded significantly better to antidepressant treatment.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

The clinical spectrum of panic attacks.

Current psychiatric nosologies associate recurrent panic attacks mainly with panic disorder, and agoraphobia with panic attacks, circumscribing their clinical relevance to the anxiety group of diagnosis. Through selected clinical presentations and a literature review the authors propose the existence of a cross-syndromal panic-anxiety represented by the recurrent panic attack that crosses the borders of any single group of diagnosis. This concept is of relevance for clinical psychiatry and may also constitute an important source of variance in psychiatric research.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Clomipramine treatment for panic attacks in patients with mitral valve prolapse.

Clomipramine (25-150 mg/day) was given in a 2-month open clinical trial to patients with DSM-III defined panic disorder (N = 8) or agoraphobia with panic attacks (N = 12); 6 of these patients were found to have MVP. Substantial improvement was seen in all of the patients with MVP and 11 of 14 without MVP. Response was not affected by age, sex, or agoraphobic vs panic disorder diagnosis. Thus, clomipramine appears effective in the treatment of spontaneous panic attacks with or without mitral valve prolapse.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1983

Dexamethasone suppression tests in antidepressant treatment of melancholia. The process of normalization and test-retest reproducibility.

Pilot studies suggest that changes in response to the dexamethasone suppression test (DST) in melancholic patients receiving antidepressants might represent a laboratory marker of clinical progress. We performed weekly DSTs in 31 hospitalized patients with major depressive disorder, primary and endogenous subtypes, during drug-free and subsequent treatment periods. Most nonsuppressors had progressive normalization of DST responses in conjunction with clinical improvement, DST normalization usually preceded or coincided with good clinical response, and failure to normalize was often associated with poorer clinical outcome. Occasional patients with baseline dexamethasone suppression become nonsuppressive after withdrawal from medication, but the DST has no apparent value as a serial marker in patients with well-documented normal DST findings. Our results extend the construct validity of the DST as a state-related marker in nonsuppressors and suggest future clinical applications.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Prolactin response to the cold pressor test in patients with panic attacks.

Recent advances in psychiatric nosology have provided a clearer clinical description of panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks. This clinical improvement has yet to result in a better understanding of the basic mechanisms involved in these conditions. The present study compares the effects of the cold pressor test on blood pressure changes and prolactin levels in patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks to its effects in normal controls. Because the effects of the cold pressor test were similar in patients and normal controls, it appears that alpha-adrenergic function is normal in the patient group. The results also suggest that prolactin hypersecretion does not occur in pathological anxiety states.

Adult↗