[Pregnancy and drug abuse: current situation and therapeutic strategies]. / Grossesse et consommation de drogues psychoactives. Etat des lieux et stratégies thérapeutiques.

Drug abuse, a general public health problem, concerns a growing number of the pregnant women. Pregnancy in a drug addict is a high risk condition. The prevention of neonatal and pediatric complications involving both organic and psychological conditions, requires early individual medical, psychological and social support adapted to each pregnant addict. The risk for the mother and the fetus warrant prescription of substitution therapy during pregnancy. Published results concerning pregnancies in women on substitution therapy have been encouraging and clearly show a decrease in maternal and fetal complications. These studies are however difficult to conduct and carry a certain number of biases related to the social and economical context of the patients and also to the type of drug abuse (multiple drugs, drug combinations, psychostimulants, smoking, alcohol).

[Manic-depressive disorders in adolescence. Lithium treatment]. / Troubles maniaco-dépressifs à l'adolescence. Le traitement lithié.

FIRST INTENTION PREVENTION: Lithium is the first intention preventive treatment for bipolar disorders. It the most effective choice in this indication and provides the most benefit for the patient, particularly the young patient still in the process of maturation. SURVEILLANCE: Serum lithium must be monitored regularly. It is important for the clinician to be aware of different factors which can modify serum levels, including disease states or iatrogenic effects related to co-prescriptions. PATIENT INFORMATION: Long-term compliance and surveillance, and thus treatment efficacy, depend greatly on the quality of the information provided to the patient and his/her family.

[Eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa in adolescents]. / Troubles des conduites alimentaires. L'anorexie mentale de l'adolescence.

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DATA: Anorexia nevrosa is mainly observed in young women in the 15-24 year age range. The incidence is 1 to 2% in the general population of female adolescents. The sex ratio is 9 girls for 1 boy. SYMPTOM TRIAD: Three symptoms predominate in anorexia nevrosa: weight loss, anorexia, amenorrhea. Weight loss results from restrictive eating behavior and not from a loss of appetite. CLINICAL DIAGNOSIS: Diagnosis is clinical and confirmed by an analysis of the underlying psychological conflicts which involve difficulty in accepting the female identity and in assuming self-sufficiency outside the family. The clinician should evaluate the quality of the familial environment, particularly the mother-daughter and father-daughter relationship as well as the social environment (school, friends) which is also needed to apprehend the global situation. Physical examination and laboratory tests are aimed at rapidly eliminating any differential diagnosis and to quantify the weight loss and its rate, and identify any nutritional disorders. ETIOLOGY: Anorexia nevrosa is not a truly structured psychopathological disorder but rather a loss of a stable organization of Self, with a highly vulnerable narcissistic element and precarious neurotic defences. CLINICAL COURSE: The risk of poor outcome is very real, sometimes life threatening. The treatment of choice is to implement analytical management as soon as possible, but outside acute episodes.

[Antiphospholipid syndrome and psychosis]. / Syndrome des antiphospholipides et psychose.

The authors studies literature on both psychiatrics manifestations in several auto-immune diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus and the antiphospholipid syndrome, and the impairment of immune functions in psychiatrics diseases. They try to expose the relevance of collaboration between Medical practitioners and psychiatrists to study the immunogenetic hypothesis of psychotic diseases.

[Delusion and sleep deprivation]. / Bouffée délirante et privation de sommeil.

In this article, the authors report two observations of short delusion that occurred after taking Guronsan--a psychostimulant commercialized in France--for a few days, with the intention of maintaining a total deprivation of sleep for three days in both cases. The ensuing clinical picture included a state of depersonalization, a loss of the sense of reality, illusions and even visual hallucinations as well as a delirious feeling of persecution. These disorders altered with the state of vigilance and the patients remembered them clearly. The authors discussed the etiopathogenic role of this psychotrope, as its components--acid ascorbic, glucuronamide and caffein--are not mentioned in literature as causing factors of a psychotic state. Then they compared this psychotrope with other molecules: amphetamines in particular may start a delirium of persecution, but normally they just reveal an underlying psychotic structure, which doesn't seem to be the case here, where the two young adults were only found a little immature. Chloroquine has sometimes been incriminated for disorders similar to those mentioned above, with a difference lying in a greater stability in the duration of these disorders that would persist several days after the end of the treatment. The clinical picture of the two cases was more labile and sedation was complete as soon as the absorption of the psychotrope was interrupted and sleep was restored at the same time. That is why the authors emphasize the importance of the deprivation of sleep as a causing factor of those delusion disorders which have particularly been observed in the case of solitary navigators. The psychiatrist dealing with emergencies shouldn't overlook this clinical and etiological possibility, all the less so as the treatment is simple and the resort to neuroleptics unnecessary.

[Fault, sacrifice and traumatic neurosis. Apropos of a case]. / Faute, sacrifice et névrose traumatique. A propos d'un cas.

The present case is one of a patient suffering from traumatic neurosis, on whom psychotherapeutic work has been possible. The traumatic experience, which dates back to the Franco-Algerian War, could have gradually started making sense in the context of its onset and of the state in which the relationship between the patient and his father remained at the time. Something along the lines of an irrevocable mistake, irrevocable since logically referred to as a serious moral mistake on the part of the father towards his son, renders humanely comprehensible his upkeep of his atrocity as represented by the repetition of the revival symptoms.