[Psychosocial integration of inpatients with borderline personality disorder: reflection of a health care system focused on symptom remission]. / Psychosoziale Integration von stationären Patienten mit Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung : Abbild eines auf Symptomremission fokussierten Therapie- und Versorgungssystems.

BACKGROUND: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is characterized by a profound instability of identity, by stress and affect dysregulation and impulsivity, and by cognitive-perceptual disturbances. These deficits seriously impair interpersonal experiences and social interaction. The typical impulsive style and psychosocial malfunctioning of these patients lead to grave disturbances in their everyday areas of life with numerous break-ups in all relevant areas of life and entail inadequate vocational placement. Despite vast demands on the health care system, BPD attracts little attention of care process research and reintegration measures as, for instance, exist for schizophrenia. At the LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf as representative of a large clinic in North Rhein-Westphalia, we analysed socio-demographic characteristics of BPD inpatients. The aims of the study were to substantiate the high impact of the disease on patient's social and vocational integration and to sensitize for significant aspects of disease-specific therapy and care. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of DGPPN-BADO of all patients (n = 9,425) who were admitted between January 2004 and December 2009 to the LVR-Klinikum Düsseldorf, department of psychiatry and psychotherapy, Heinrich Heine University Hospital, Germany. Data analysis involved the divisions general psychiatry and addictive disorders and covered 999 patients with BPD (ICD-10: F60.3) and 1,937 patients with schizophrenia (ICD-10: F20). The defined characteristics of DGPPN-BADO that depict psychosocial integration were "living situation at admission", "highest academic/professional degree achieved", "working situation" und "livelihood". Besides descriptive statistics of the elected variables, comparative analysis of the diagnoses BPD and schizophrenia involved calculating group differences after adjusting the groups for sex and age. Statistical analysis was performed by the χ2-test. RESULTS: The comparative analysis of psychosocially relevant BADO characteristics reveals a significantly stronger impairment of patients with BPD concerning their academic and professional qualification than patients with schizophrenia. Nevertheless they more often hold a job or cover their living expenses without subsidy, respectively. CONCLUSION: The data suggest a lack of general awareness in the significance of social and vocational disturbances in BPD. The interactional deficits of patients with BPD affect all areas of life but their illness-related nature seems to be disregarded in relevant life areas, such as educational processes and the vocational situation. Furthermore, the impact of BPD on earning capacity is not given adequate consideration in the assessment of pensions or subsidies. Consistent with the recent literature, our socio-demographic data indicate significant deficits of the present health system in handling BPD.

[Electroconvulsive therapy for major depression in borderline personality disorder]. / Elektrokrampftherapie bei Patienten mit Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung und schwerer Depression.

Depressive disorder is a serious and frequent complication in borderline personality disorder (BPD), however, its severity tends to be neglected particularly if symptoms are short-lived or inconsistent as is common in patients with BPD. Yet the high frequency in these patients requires especially rapid and effective therapy to reduce the risks of vital endangerment, chronification and psychosocial impairment. Efficient crisis intervention is essential for continuity of the disease-specific multimodal therapy enabling lasting remission and social and vocational rehabilitation in BPD. In particular with regard to the high incidence of poor or failed pharmacological responses in patients with BPD, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is of significant relevance among antidepressant treatment options. Despite the wide consensus on its efficacy, there are only few selected trials on ECT for major depression (MD) in BPD. This review summarises the published original studies on this issue, and critically scrutinises indication, benefits and risks of ECT for MD in BPD. It contributes to a focused, discriminating view on ECT and thus enables an optimised patient-oriented, efficient indication for MD in BPD.

[Mood stabilizer in the psychopharmacotherapy of borderline personality disorder]. / Anwendung von Moodstabilizern in der Psychopharmakotherapie der Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung.

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) constitutes a profound instability with dysfunction in three psychopathological dimensions as cognitive-perceptual symptoms, affective dysregulation and behavioral impulsivity. Psychopharmacotherapy has a crucial role in the treatment of this complex disorder and targets the respective core symptoms. It comprises basically atypical antipsychotics, antidepressant agents and moodstabilizers, often requiring a combination of these substances in case of complex, multidimensional symptoms. Regarding the predominantly young and female patients the teratogenic risk demands critical consideration. This study focuses on the use of moodstabilizers in the treatment of BPD and gives an overview of the currently available studies on this substance class, in particular on lithium, carbamazepine, divalproex sodium, topiramate and lamotrigine. Results show significant effects on core features of BPD, but nevertheless, there are considerable limits in comparability and validity among the studies because of heterogeneities in the patient groups, study design, additive medication and outcome measures. Disregarding the off-label use in this indication the data reflect however an established clinical practice of use for these substances and underline the pivotal impact of moodstabilizers in the treatment of core symptoms of BPD.

[Therapeutic options for weight management in schizophrenic patients treated with atypical antipsychotics]. / Möglichkeiten des Gewichtsmanagements in der Behandlung schizophrener Psychosen mit atypischen Antipsychotika.

Extensive, selective literature review of 2500 articles from the last years (up to December 2007) predominantly from Medline and Cochrane, using as search terms "antipsychotic or schizophrenia or individual drug names (amisulpride, aripiprazole, clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, ziprasidone)" and the terms "BMI, weight gain, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, lipid(s), cholesterol, triglycerides" was conducted. Regardless of the advantages ascribed to atypical antipsychotics and the special effectiveness of clozapine in patients resistant to therapy and at risk for suicide, the probability of weight gain is considerably increased for some of these substances. Patients with schizophrenia have a considerably reduced life expectancy associated with an increased prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors. There is a lack of practical guidelines integrated into clinical psychiatric care for the management of cardiovascular risk factors. The monitoring of patients treated with atypics, which has been recommended in the APA/ADA Consensus Paper in light of these facts, is insufficiently established in clinical practice. A regular monitoring can convey self control and motivation to the patient. In the case of corresponding risk constellations further decisions regarding indication and therapy have to be considered. Especially patients with a high cardiovascular risk profile are highly recommended to participate in a weight-management program for prevention purposes. Such a special program should include elements of dietetic treatment and behaviour and exercise therapy. First controlled studies suggest an effective prevention of weight gain and metabolic changes when applying such a structured program. The practice oriented step by step concept presented here is meant to provide points of reference for the implementation of required medical and psychoeducative measures facilitating the management of weight and further cardiovascular risk factors in the context of psychiatric care in patients with schizophrenia.

[Treatment of borderline personality disorder with atypical antipsychotic drugs]. / Behandlung der Borderline-Persönlichkeitsstörung mit atypischen Antipsychotika.

Pharmacotherapy of Borderline personality disorder with atypical antipsychotics has recently been the subject of several mostly small studies and case reports. In contrast to the frequent clinical use of this substance class in borderline patients the amount of data on that subject is still sparse. The clinical data gathered thus far suggest a potential use of atypical antipsychotics in the areas of psychotic symptoms, impulsivity and possibly affective symptoms. The drugs were sufficiently well tolerated; however, the observation period in most studies was short and the dosage low. The current set of clinical data does not support the frequently applied polypharmacy. However, recent data suggest that a therapeutic approach combining atypical antipsychotics and psychotherapy may reveal synergistic effects. Future trials should study larger sample sizes over a longer period of time. Open questions are the required dose and the optimal treatment duration.

[Post-stroke-depression. Algorithm for a standardized diagnostic approach in clinical routine]. / Post-Stroke-Depression. Algorithmus für ein standardisiertes diagnostisches Vorgehen in der klinischen Routine.

Depression is a frequent and important complication after stroke. The occurrence of a post-stroke-depression (PSD) has a significant impact on the functional and cognitive deficit, on mortality and on quality of life after stroke. In contrast to the clinical importance, PSD is often ignored in routine management of stroke patients and remains often untreated if diagnosed. The diagnostic uncertainty is aggravated by the lack of appropriate diagnostic criteria for PSD in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) used in Germany. For the first time, we present an algorithm, which allows for a standardized examination of stroke patients on the presence of PSD. All stroke patients should be examined initially by a short and simple screening tool and are subjected to more extensive procedures only if PSD is assumed based on the screening result. Furthermore potentials and limitations to convert the diagnosis of PSD into a diagnostic related group (DRG) that is used to calculate the hospital's reimbursement are highlighted. Finally pharmacological treatment options for PSD are discussed.

Aripiprazole pharmacotherapy of borderline personality disorder.

We report three consecutive cases of women with borderline personality disorder with psychotic symptoms, who received pharmacotherapy with the new atypical antipsychotic drug aripiprazole. Therapeutic effects were measured using the SCL-90R (symptom check list) and the BSL (borderline symptom list). We observed different responses to aripiprazole. In the first patient we had to discontinue the drug before we were able to observe any therapeutic effects. The second patient also complained about initial side effects. However, after the dose was lowered, the drug was tolerated and she responded well to aripiprazole with respect to all psychopathological aspects. The third patient did not suffer from any side effects under aripiprazole. She responded partially to the drug. Aripiprazole may have a potential role in the pharmacotherapy of borderline personality disorder and may not only target psychotic symptoms in these patients.