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R Abrams

Publications and source records attributed to R Abrams.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

Genetic studies of the schizoaffective syndrome: a selective review.

The diagnostic validity of the schizoaffective syndrome is assessed from a genetic vantage point. Five studies are reviewed that meet specific methodological requirements. No evidence is provided for the transmission of schizoaffective disorder as a diagnostic entity. The relationship of the schizoaffective syndrome to manic-depressive illness and to schizophrenia is unresolved, and genetic overlap exists between these two disorders in the transmission of the syndrome, with the larger contribution coming from affective disorder, and schizophrenia contributing primarily a severity of illness factor.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Cognitive impairment in schizophrenia.

The cognitive functioning of 62 schizophrenic subjects was compared with that of 42 normal controls using neuropsychological tasks that included assessment of soft neurological signs, an aphasia screening test, tachistoscopic stimulation, auditory threshold determinations, and items from the Mini-Mental State, Halstead-Reitan, and Luria-Nebraska batteries. Performance was rated blindly for hemispheric, regional cortical, and global impairment. No control showed more than a mild deficit, whereas three-quarters of the schizophrenic patients exhibited moderate to severe dysfunction. Schizophrenic subjects differed significantly from controls on all measures and showed bilateral impairment that was comparatively worse in the dominant frontotemporal regions. These differences were not a function of age, sex, handedness, or drug administration.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

Prolactin levels after bilateral and unilateral ECT.

Serial post-ictal serum prolactin levels were obtained over a period of one hour after bilateral or unilateral electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in six patients. Bilateral ECT yielded significantly higher mean post-ictal prolactin levels than unilateral ECT at the 15, 20, 30 and 60 minute sampling times. These findings demonstrate a greater hypothalamic-stimulating effect of bilateral than unilateral ECT, and may explain the reported therapeutic advantage of bilateral over unilateral ECT in the treatment of patients with melancholia.

Delusions↗
PubMed1983

The importance of mood-incongruent psychotic symptoms in melancholia.

We examined the clinical, genetic and prognostic significance of mood-incongruent psychotic symptoms in a sample of melancholic patients with and without such features, and a control group of schizophrenic patients. We found no differences between the two depressive groups for any of the important variables studied, but marked differences for both groups in comparison with the schizophrenic sample. Mood-incongruent psychotic symptoms do not appear to identify a unique sub-population of melancholia.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Establishing diagnostic criteria for mania.

There has been general agreement on the symptoms of mania, but the validity of criteria for diagnosing mania have not been studied. The present study evaluates diagnostic criteria for mania by examining their internal construct validity, i.e., whether they are consistent with structure implicit in the concept of diagnostic criteria. Symptom information from 235 patients with varying diagnoses were studied. Elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, hyperactivity, and rapid or pressured speech were found to define a diagnostic classification of mania. Grandiosity and flight of ideas were related to this classification but did not contribute to its definition. Results suggested new diagnostic criteria for mania, with patients being diagnosed manic if they had at least two of the three designated symptoms. Additional information on the presence or absence of grandiosity and/or flight of ideas changed the diagnoses of only seven patients (3 per cent), all of whom had had the lowest certainty of diagnosis based on three symptoms. The entire study was replicated on an independent sample of 182 patients with nearly identical results.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed1983

Comparison of schizophrenic patients with formal thought disorder and neurologically impaired patients with aphasia.

This study compares the speech and language of 14 schizophrenic patients having a formal thought disorder with 13 neurologically impaired patients with aphasia. Transcribed interviews with these patients were blindly assessed by five specialists for classification as schizophrenic or aphasic. Three of the five specialists performed better than chance but only one achieved high discriminating ability. Interrater reliability was poor. Five of 14 language abnormalities assessed differentiated the diagnostic groups. These findings suggest that schizophrenic patients share many language abnormalities with aphasic patients but do not exhibit a classic aphasic syndrome.

Aphasia↗
PubMed1983

The genetics of schizophrenia: a reassessment using modern criteria.

The authors present two reasons for reassessing familial transmission of schizophrenia: recent major changes in diagnostic criteria and methodological weaknesses of older studies. Their own study of this subject employed narrowly defined, operational research criteria; prospective proband selection; semistructured family interviews; and blind, independent diagnoses of probands and relatives. For 30 schizophrenic probands they found an age-corrected morbidity risk in first-degree relatives of 1.61%, a figure that would only support familial transmission if the true population prevalence of schizophrenia were .2% or less. The authors conclude that the case for familial transmission of narrowly defined schizophrenia is weak and suggest alternative hypotheses.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Bilateral versus unilateral electroconvulsive therapy: efficacy in melancholia.

The authors compared the therapeutic efficacy of bilateral and unilateral electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in 51 patients with endogenous depression who were randomly assigned to bilateral (N = 24) or unilateral (N = 27) ECT. Seizures were monitored by oscilloscope. After 6 treatments blind assessment on a modified Hamilton depression scale showed an 81.1% improvement in the bilateral group compared with a 55.5% improvement in the unilateral group. Additional treatments were prescribed ad libitum by a hospital psychiatrist who was unaware of each patient's electrode placement. The unilateral group received more total treatments and were more frequently switched to bilateral ECT. These results were independent of age, severity of illness, or sedative drug administration.

Depressive Disorder↗
PubMed1983

Mania secondary to left and right hemisphere damage.

The authors report on two fully right-handed men without prior psychiatric history who developed mania secondary to vascular lesions of the left and right hemispheres, respectively. One patient, whose left hemisphere lesion produced a transient posterior aphasia, is believed to be the first patient reported in the literature whose secondary mania followed damage to the hemisphere documented to be dominant for both handedness and speech. The authors conclude that it is premature to consider mania to a be syndrome of the nondominant hemisphere.

Affective Disorders, Psychotic↗
PubMed1983

Schizo-affective disorder, manic type. A clinical, laboratory, and genetic study.

We studied a sample of 111 Feighner manics divided into 42 'pure' manics without any schizophrenic features, 41 manics with one such feature, and 28 with two or more such features. The three groups did not significantly differ on any major demographic, clinical, historical, treatment response, laboratory, or familial variable tested. We also applied the DSM-III schizophrenia and schizophreniform criteria to these 111 Feighner manics. Only 1 manic had an index episode longer than 6 months (a necessary criterion for schizophrenia), whereas 13 (12%) satisfied the schizophreniform criteria. We compared these 13 Feighner manics satisfying DSM-III schizophreniform criteria with the remaining 97 Feighner manics and could find no major demographic, clinical, or laboratory differences between the two groups. Although not statistically significant, the morbidity risk for affective disorder in the first-degree relatives of the 97 Feighner manics was three times the risk in the relatives of the Feighner manics who also satisfied the DSM-III schizophreniform criteria. The morbidity risk for alcoholism in these relatives was one-half that of first-degree relatives of the 'schizophreniform' manics. The two groups did not differ in total risk for alcoholism and affective disorder.

Adult↗