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Biomedical subjects

Andrea Kopf

Publications and source records attributed to Andrea Kopf.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Burnout of caregivers: a comparison between partners of psychiatric patients and nurses.

Care of a person with mental illness involves multiple burdens, possibly leading to burnout. This study compares partners of persons with schizophrenia and depression with nursing staff based on dimensions of burnout. Nursing staff and partners of patients with schizophrenia or depression were consecutively recruited from psychiatric hospitals and interviewed with the Maslach Burnout Inventory. No significant differences were found in the three dimensions of burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment) for the two groups of caregivers. About one fourth of the respondents in both groups showed a high degree of burnout. Professional and nonprofessional caregivers face a similar degree of burden and need support to perform their caretaking tasks.

Adolescent↗

[Hashimoto encephalopathy].

Hashimoto encephalopathy is a chronic relapsing steroid responsive encephalopathy characterized by antibodies against thyroid components. Etiology is still unknown. Confusion, seizures and coma are frequent reported symptoms. We present a 65-year old patient with acute onset of partial seizures and cognitive impairment. Hashimoto encephalopathy was assumed with diagnosis of Hashimoto thyroiditis and clinical syndrome. Symptoms resolved with thyroid treatment alone. Hashimoto encephalopathy should be considered in patients with unexplained encephalopathy, even when thyroid function seems to be normal.

Aged↗

[Organic depressive disorder caused by Cushing's syndrome--case report].

We report a case of 35-year old female patient with recurrent depressive disorder and Cushing's syndrome. MRI of the brain revealed a microadenoma of the pituitary gland. After neurosurgery the serum levels of cortisol went back to normal and the clinical and mental state of the patient improved rapidly. Depressive episodes require additional diagnostics to exclude somatic etiology.

Adenoma↗

[Life threatening neuroleptic malignant syndrome due to olanzapine].

The frequency of neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) after clozapine or olanzapine is low and often of non-serious nature. A 49 year-old female patient developed NMS 12 days after olanzapine re-exposure. Olanzapine was stopped, the patient was transferred to an ICU and received a course of nine uni- and bilateral ECT treatments. This led to remission. 14 months earlier the patient had presented with a first severe NMS episode after haloperidol depot injection and 4 days after starting oral clozapine. Following the first NMS episode olanzapine (20 mg per day) was administered for 11 months without adverse effects.

Antipsychotic Agents↗