ABSTRACT
Epilepsy affects not only the patient but also the patient's cohabiting relatives, to various degrees. This study investigated state and trait anxiety, depression, and social fear and avoidance levels in 48 adult patients with epilepsy and 48 family members, compared with 43 healthy control subjects, using the Beck Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. The results suggested that the patients and their first-degree relatives had higher levels of depression, state and trait anxiety, and avoidance compared with healthy subjects. The mothers of patients with epilepsy had the highest level of depression and anxiety.
Subject(s)
Anxiety/psychology , Epilepsy/psychology , Family/psychology , Phobic Disorders/psychology , Adolescent , Adult , Anxiety/complications , Depression/complications , Depression/psychology , Epilepsy/complications , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Phobic Disorders/complications , Prospective Studies , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Young AdultABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: In this study, we report the results of our experience of therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) for neuroimmunologic disorders performed at our hospital over a seven-year period. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 91 patients (53 male, 38 female) who had been treated at our center with TPE. RESULTS: 60 patients with Guillain-Barrè syndrome (GBS), 23 with myasthenia gravis (MG), 4 with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and 1 patient each with polymyositis, septic encephalopathy, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and Opsoclonus-Myoclonus syndrome (OMS) received TPE. 26.7% of GBS patient's made complete recovery, 61.7% had partial recovery and 11.7% patients died due to respiratory failure. Despite our best efforts and effective TPE treatments, 13.4% of MG patients deceased, however, 78% had full recovery. Three patients with CIDP were discharged with full and 1 patient with partial recovery. The patient with ADEM had partial recovery with TPE at first, but deceased 2 months later due to pneumonia-related respiratory insufficiency. While, patient with polymyositis had slight-partial recovery, we obtained full recovery with TPE in septic encephalopathy and OMS patients. The side effects and complications of treatments with TPE, which included hypotension, hypocalcaemia and anemia, were mild and manageable. CONCLUSION: The improvement rates were encouraging and we concluded that significant benefit can be achieved with TPE for the treatment of neuroimmunological disorders.
