Lack of efficacy for fluoxetine in PTSD: a placebo controlled trial in combat veterans.

BACKGROUND: Fluoxetine and placebo were studied in a population of combat veterans with severe, chronic PTSD. METHODS: Twelve male veterans with PTSD were enrolled in a 12 week double-blind evaluation of fluoxetine and placebo. Mean fluoxetine dose at endpoint (week 12) was 48 mg/day with a range of 10 mg to 60 mg. RESULTS: One fluoxetine patient responded (17%) and two of the six placebo patients responded (33%). CONCLUSIONS: Fluoxetine patients did not show a greater response than placebo patients in this small sample of male combat veterans with severe, chronic PTSD. Fluoxetine has displayed an efficacious response in controlled studies of patients with PTSD who were predominantly female, suffered civilian (noncombat) traumas, and were overall experiencing less severe PTSD. The reasons for the low response rate to fluoxetine in our study is unknown and will await further study examining variables other than symptoms that might influence outcome, such as gender, comorbidity, prior treatment history, trauma type, severity and chronicity.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory profiles of Vietnam combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder and their children.

Forty children of 28 fathers who are Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Each of the fathers had at least one elevated clinical scale. Fathers averaged eight elevated clinical scales, and compared to more recent norms, fathers averaged seven elevated clinical scales. Seventy-eight percent of the children had at least one clinically elevated scale (averaging three elevated clinical scales). Compared to contemporary normal adolescents and adults, 65% of children had at least one clinically elevated scale (still averaging three elevated clinical scales). No consistent MMPI profile patterns emerged within or across the two groups. No gender differences were detected among child MMPI profiles. Forty percent of the children reported illegal drug use, and 35% reported behavior problems. Fifteen percent of children reported previous violent behavior. Eighty-three percent of the children reported elevated Cook-Medley hostility scores as compared to an age-matched national normative sample. Children with higher PK scores were also significantly more likely to report higher Cook-Medley hostility scores. Forty-five percent of children reported significant elevations on the PTSD/PK subscales.

Interpersonal and self-reported hostility among combat veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder.

The present study investigated self-reported and interpersonal hostility in 70 Vietnam combat veterans with and without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and 60 comparison community volunteer subjects. Veterans were 50 help-seeking, male Vietnam combat veterans with PTSD and 20 non-help-seeking male combat veterans without PTSD. Vietnam veterans with PTSD not only reported more hostility than non-PTSD veterans and healthy community volunteers, but also reacted behaviorally with more hostility during an interpersonal interaction. Compared to veterans without PTSD, veterans with PTSD reported significantly higher levels of hostility and demonstrated significantly greater non-verbal expressions of hostility during an interpersonal task. These results suggest that the level of hostility in PTSD combat veterans may be high as compared to comparison groups. The implications of these results and possible research directions are presented.

Smoking in Vietnam combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The present study investigated smoking prevalence, smoking motives, demographic variables and psychological symptoms in 124 help-seeking, male Vietnam combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A high percentage of these veterans smoked (60%). Vietnam veterans with PTSD who smoked were more likely than those who did not smoke to report higher levels of PTSD symptoms, depression and trait anxiety. Increased depression was associated with increased automatic smoking. Smokers reported a high frequency of smoking in response to military memories. Implications for smoking interventions, cessation, and relapse prevention efforts are discussed.

Religious coping and cognitive symptoms of depression in elderly medical patients.

The investigators examined associations between depressive symptom type and religious coping in 832 consecutively admitted older medical inpatients. Cognitive symptoms of depression, but not somatic symptoms, were related to religious coping. Boredom, loss of interest, social withdrawal, feeling downhearted and blue, restlessness, feeling like a failure, feeling hopeless, or feeling that other people were better off were all significantly less common among religious copers. Difficulty initiating new activities was the only somatic symptom related to this coping behavior. Religious coping, a strategy heavily dependent on cognitive processes, is associated with fewer cognitive but not somatic symptoms of depression in medically ill older patients

Predicting response to amitriptyline in posttraumatic stress disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the relation between baseline clinical phenomena and response to amitriptyline in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). METHOD: Data were obtained from an 8-week placebo-controlled, double-blind study of combat veterans. Bivariate and multivariate statistics were used to evaluate the relations between the following variables and outcome: age, depression, anxiety, severity of PTSD symptoms, personality, psychiatric comorbidity, level of exposure to trauma, and individual symptoms of depression, anxiety, and traumatic stress. Outcome measures were scores on the Clinical Global Impression scale, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety, and Impact of Event Scale. RESULTS: Drug response was related to lower baseline levels of depression, neuroticism, combat intensity, anxious mood, impaired concentration, somatic symptoms, feelings of guilt, and one intrusion and four avoidance symptoms of PTSD. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that response to amitriptyline is related to measures of depression, anxiety, PTSD, personality, and intensity of combat trauma. Similar relationships were not observed in the placebo group, suggesting a specific relationship to the drug.

Spectral and topographic analysis of EEG in schizophrenic patients.

The authors performed spectral analysis of electroencephalograms (EEG), recorded awake, with eyes closed, in 13 patients with schizophrenia and 9 age-matched individuals without psychiatric diagnosis. We tested several possible parameterizations of the data, and two data-reduction strategies; these yielded similar results. Comparison of the two groups revealed a relative increase in alpha frequency activity in the frontal regions in the patient group. The authors believe that this finding is consistent with data from neuropsychologic tests, metabolic imaging studies, and evoked potential studies that suggest impaired activation of frontal brain areas in patients with schizophrenia.

Symptom and comorbidity patterns in World War II and Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Forty-four veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from World War II and Vietnam were compared. The groups were comparable on many socioeconomic and combat measures and age at onset of PTSD. Vietnam veterans exhibited more severe PTSD symptoms, higher Hamilton depression scores, and higher scores on the hostility, psychoticism, and "additional symptom" Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) scales. They also had more survivor guilt, impairment of work and interests, avoidance of reminders of trauma, detachment/estrangement from others, startle response, derealization, and suicidal tendencies. Differences were noted between the groups as to the nature of upsetting experiences. Vietnam veterans had a greater lifetime frequency of panic disorder and an earlier age of onset for alcoholism. In other respects, the two groups were diagnostically similar, with PTSD being related to the sequential emergence of psychiatric diagnoses in similar manner for World War II and Vietnam patients.

Antidepressant use in elderly medical inpatients: lessons from an attempted clinical trial.

The authors conducted a clinical trial to examine the efficacy and safety of nortriptyline in the treatment of major depression in elderly medical inpatients. The diagnosis of major depression was made by a psychiatrist in 41 of 680 patients 65 years of age or older. The study was balted at the midpoint because of inadequate patient recruitment, primarily a consequence of medical illnesses that prevented more than 80% of eligible patients from participating in or completing the clinical trial. Major or minor medical contraindications to the use of antidepressants were present in over 90% of depressed patients. Short-term follow-up was conducted on untreated depressed patients, those receiving antidepressants at the time of assessment, and those in whom antidepressant treatment was initiated after assessment. Non-randomized exposure to antidepressants did not predict remission of depression at follow-up due to spontaneous remission in the untreated group. Given the prevalence of medical contraindications to antidepressant use among depressed elderly patients and the problems with side effects in treated patients, there were few depressed, elderly hospitalized patients who were candidates for antidepressant therapy.

Symptom exacerbation in psychotically depressed adolescents due to high desipramine plasma concentrations.

The pharmacological treatment of two female adolescent patients meeting DSM-III criteria for psychotic depression is described. A combined antipsychotic and tricyclic antidepressant regimen led to clinical remission. However, a recrudescence in both psychotic and depressive symptoms developed as plasma desipramine levels rose 4 times higher than anticipated from the oral doses prescribed. Clinical improvement occurred in both cases when plasma desipramine levels were reestablished below 200 ng/ml. Thus, we recommend prospective monitoring of desipramine plasma levels, especially when an antipsychotic agent that inhibits the metabolism of the tricyclic antidepressant is also used. We further suggest that deterioration with the reemergence of the presenting clinical syndrome, without signs of delirium, represents a distinct manifestation of antidepressant toxicity. Finally, these cases support the existence of a therapeutic upper limit for desipramine plasma concentrations, above which clinical deterioration occurs.