[Contingent negative variation and regional cerebral blood flow in senile dementia and cerebral aging]. / Etude de la variation contingente négative et du débit sanguin cérébral dans la démence sénile et le vieillissement cérébral.

Relationships between contingent negative variation (CNV) amplitude, regional cerebral blood flow (CBF), mini mental status examination score (MMSE) and reaction time (RT) have been studied in young subjects, non-demented old subjects and patients with primary degenerative senile dementia. Significant correlations have been found between CNV amplitude and global CBF, MMSE score and reaction time. Factorial analysis has shown 3 factors weighted respectively by MMSE and CNV, antero-posterior ratio fort left hemispheric CBF and age, and antero-posterior ratio for right hemispheric CBF and reaction time. Discriminant analysis has shown 2 discriminant functions differentiating young from old subjects with 90% accuracy and demented from non-demented patients with 75% accuracy.

[Dexamethasone suppression test repeated after a suicide attempt]. / Tests de freination à la dexaméthasone répétés après une tentative de suicide.

The authors performed 3 consecutive DSTs in 54 non-endogenous depressives admitted after a suicide attempt. The DST results are not correlated with the lethality of the suicide attempt. Stress and numerous drug interactions are most probably responsible for the high proportion of DST nonsuppressors among our patients.

Violent suicidal behavior and the thyrotropin-releasing hormone-thyroid-stimulating hormone test: a clinical outcome study.

A relation between abnormal response of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) to thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) and a personal history of violent suicidal behavior was observed in a sample of 60 depressive women. Patients with a blunted TSH response to TRH were also at greater risk for subsequent suicide. There was no relationship between TSH response to TRH and age, severity of depression and polarity of the illness.

Thyrotrophin response to thyreostimulin in affectively ill women relationship to suicidal behaviour.

Past history of suicidal behaviour was investigated in 51 depressed women (27 unipolar and 24 bipolar) in whom the TSH response to TRH was studied. Patients with a history of violent suicidal attempts were shown to have a reduced TSH response to TRH, compared to depressed patients with a history of non-violent suicidal attempts and depressed patients with no history of suicidal behaviour. A five-year follow-up study on these patients revealed that four patients who died from suicide had an absence of TSH response to TRH.

[Dexamethasone suppression test and suicide]. / Test de freination à la dexamethasone et suicide.

Suicidal behavior may be related to perturbations of the hypothalamo-pituitary axis. We administered the DST to 51 patients admitted for suicide attempt on admission day. No correlation is found between DST result and type of suicide attempt. The DST's diagnostic predictive value was absent for our population. Neither alcoholism, nor repeat of suicide attempt, nor suicidal behavior rating scales were correlated with DST results. Drug interference effects and the "stress" factor may explain our DST results on a population of suicide attemptors.