RESUMO
Biological tests may help clarify the relationship of schizoaffective disorder to major depressive disorder (MDD) and schizophrenia (SCZ). Thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), 500 micrograms, was administered intravenously to eight schizoaffective depressed (SD), ten SCZ, 23 MDD patients and 43 healthy controls (HC), all males, ages 20-66 years and drug-free. Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) were utilized for establishing diagnoses, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HRSD) total scores were used for assessing depressive symptoms. There were no differences in dmax PRL (post-TRH prolactin peak minus baseline, mean +/- SD) amongst SD, SCZ and HC groups (27.3 +/- 5.2, 28.8 +/- 5.4 and 31.5 +/- 5.6 ng/ml respectively). Mean dmax PRL in MDD was significantly lower than each of the other three groups (17.1 +/- 2.2 ng/ml, P less than 0.05 for all). The essentially normal PRL response to TRH in SD, significantly different from MDD but similar to SCZ parallels our previous observations on the pattern of thyrotropin (TSH) response to TRH in the same diagnostic groups. These biological findings may be taken to indicate that schizoaffective disorder, depressed subtype, is closer to schizophrenia than to major depressive disorder. However, they cannot be considered definitive evidence to that effect since schizoaffective disorders are known to be quite heterogeneous, and since the utilized biological tests lack specificity.
Assuntos
Transtorno Depressivo/diagnóstico , Prolactina/sangue , Transtornos Psicóticos/diagnóstico , Esquizofrenia/diagnóstico , Psicologia do Esquizofrênico , Hormônio Liberador de Tireotropina , Adulto , Idoso , Transtorno Depressivo/sangue , Transtorno Depressivo/psicologia , Hospitalização , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Escalas de Graduação Psiquiátrica , Transtornos Psicóticos/sangue , Transtornos Psicóticos/psicologia , Esquizofrenia/sangueRESUMO
The authors report eight instances of ECT-induced postictal (emergence) delirium that occurred after bilateral ECT, right unilateral ECT, or left unilateral ECT. They conclude that postictal delirium is a random phenomenon unrelated to lateralized hemispheric mechanisms.