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Biomedical subjects

Maria C Catalano

Publications and source records attributed to Maria C Catalano.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

A survey of psychiatry residency programs: association between program characteristics and success in the 2003 NRMP.

While the number of medical students entering psychiatry has increased since the 1990's, little has been written about the program characteristics that draw students to specific psychiatry residency programs. We developed a survey regarding residency program characteristics and distributed it to the chief residents of each psychiatry residency program in the USA. Survey results were tabulated, and the presence of specific characteristics were correlated to the 2003 National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) results. We found that the presence of a substance abuse, geriatric psychiatry or a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship were all associated with increased NRMP success. Programs with regular resident meetings had significantly higher success in the NRMP than those programs without meetings. Programs that had six or more PGY-I positions available in the NRMP revealed a trend towards higher NRMP success than smaller programs. Finally, in some cases, higher intern salaries were associated with higher NRMP success.

Achievement↗

Anxiety and depression in hospitalized patients in resistant organism isolation.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported an increase in psychiatric symptoms in seriously ill patients who were placed in resistant organism isolation. We conducted this study to assess whether there is an increase in symptoms of anxiety and depression in patients who are not critically ill and are placed in isolation. METHODS: Patients hospitalized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus species infections were evaluated with the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale at baseline and again during hospitalization. The results were then compared with the results of patients who were hospitalized for infectious diseases that did not require isolation. RESULTS: Patients in isolation had significantly higher scores on both the anxiety and depression scales at the time of follow-up than did patients who were not isolated. There was no significant difference between the scores of the two groups before isolation. CONCLUSION: The results of this preliminary study suggest that placement in resistant organism isolation may increase hospitalized patients' levels of anxiety and depression.

Adult↗

Pediatric quetiapine overdose: a case report and literature review.

Quetiapine is a medication approved for the treatment of psychotic disorders in adults. At this time it is not approved for the treatment of children or adolescents. It is an atypical antipsychotic agent that is efficacious in treating both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. There is currently little information available concerning the safety of quetiapine in overdose, and there are no previous case reports of quetiapine overdose in the pediatric population. We present the case of a 15-year-old girl who ingested 1250 mg of quetiapine (21.6 mg/kg) in a suicide attempt. She developed multiple symptoms including tachycardia, agitation, hypotension, and unconsciousness. We compare her symptoms to previous adult cases of quetiapine overdose and review overdose treatment recommendations. We also examine clinical situations that may lead to a more severe clinical course.

Adolescent↗

Panic attacks associated with citalopram.

Citalopram is the newest selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) available in the United States. It is currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of major depression. However, a number of studies have found it to be effective in the treatment of panic disorder as well. While there have been no previous case reports of citalopram inducing panic attacks in patients, this phenomenon has been reported with other members of the SSRI class of antidepressants. We present the case of a 61-year-old woman who had frank panic attacks after her citalopram dose was increased. She had had no history of anxiety symptoms. Anxiety abated completely upon discontinuance of citalopram therapy.

Citalopram↗

Atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of delusional parasitosis.

Delusional parasitosis is the false belief that one's body is infested with one or many different living organisms. Historically, it has been treated with conventional antipsychotics with only moderate success. The conventional antipsychotic most commonly used has been pimozide. We report a series of five cases of patients with delusional parasitosis. Our patients' demographic characteristics were similar to those in previously published case reports, but instead of being treated with older antipsychotics, they were all treated with atypical antipsychotic agents with favorable results. We will discuss the rationale for this treatment choice, and will review the role of serotonin/dopamine antagonists in the treatment of delusional parasitosis. We will also comment on the possible role of serotonergic antidepressants in the treatment of these patients.

Aged↗

Repetitive male genital self-mutilation: a case report and discussion of possible risk factors.

Male genital self-mutilation is an infrequently reported occurrence in the medical literature. The reports describing such cases have focused mostly on surgical repair. The case reports written from a psychiatric point of view have outlined possible risk factors contributing to this behavior. Typically, reports depict cases of a single episode of self-mutilation. To date, we have found twelve cases that have addressed the specific issue of repeated episodes of genital self-mutilation. In this article, we report the case of a 49-year-old man who succeeded in castrating himself after sequential episodes of genital mutilation. We will review previous cases of repetitive male genital self-mutilation and draw comparisons between those and our patient's case to arrive at common risk factors that may alert the clinician to this type of behavior.

Genitalia, Male↗

Psychosis induced by smoking cessation clinic administered anticholinergic overload.

Anticholinergic agents have multiple CNS effects, even when used in therapeutic doses. These can include sedation, amnesia, delirium and, in rare cases, psychosis. While there is some symptom overlap between delirium and psychosis, psychotic patients will have a clear sensorium. We present the case of a 59-year-old male who became psychotic and required hospitalization after the administration of a large anticholinergic load from a smoking cessation clinic. We will review the literature regarding previous cases of anticholinergic medication induced psychosis, discuss treatment options and review the clinical effects of anticholinergic medications.

Atropine↗

Acute akathisia associated with quetiapine use.

Because of their better side-effect profile, atypical antipsychotic agents have replaced conventional antipsychotic agents as the first-line treatment for schizophrenia. Although atypical agents are less likely to be associated with extrapyramidal symptoms, such symptoms sometimes do occur in patients treated with atypical agents. The authors report the cases of two patients who developed akathisia after treatment with quetiapine for insomnia, consider previously reported cases of akathisia induced by atypical antipsychotic agents, discuss other medications that can induce similar symptoms, discuss treatments for akathisia, and examine issues in the use of quetiapine as a soporific agent.

Acute Disease↗