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Biomedical subjects

F Feldman-Koffler

Publications and source records attributed to F Feldman-Koffler.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1995

Depression spectrum disease with and without depression in first-degree relatives.

Family history was assessed in 211 outpatients with unipolar major depression and diagnoses were rendered according to Winokur et al. (Winokur et al. (1978) J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 166, 764-768) family history typology. The subclassification of Depression Spectrum Disease with Alcoholism and Depression (DSDA + D) was applied to those patients reporting at least one first-degree relative suffering from alcoholism and another first-degree relative suffering from depression (n = 103), while Depression Spectrum Disease with Alcoholism (DSDA) was applied to those patients with at least one first-degree relative suffering from alcoholism, but none suffering from depression (n = 108). These two groups were compared on demographic, clinical and biological characteristics. They were also compared with 162 patients who reported the presence of depression and absence of alcoholism in first-degree relatives, designated as Familial Pure Depressive Disease (FPDD) by the Winokur et al. (1978) classification. Results revealed that the DSDA + D group was younger, had an earlier age at onset of depression and experienced more episodes of depression than did the DSDA group. No differences were found between the two groups on biological measures. The FPDD group was more similar to the DSDA + D group than the DSDA group in terms of age at onset and number of depressives episodes. However, the FPDD group had a longer length of illness than either of the DSD groups. These data suggest that the DSD group should be more narrowly defined (excluding those with a positive family history of depression) in future clinical research studies.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Clinical characteristics of outpatients with chronic major depression.

A cross-sectional evaluation of 243 unipolar, nonpsychotic outpatients with major depression was conducted. All subjects were diagnosed by RDC with SADS-L structured interviews. Diagnoses included RDC primary/secondary, RDC endogenous/nonendogenous and Winokur's family-history subtypes. Symptom severity was assessed by the 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Chronic depression was defined as the current episode of major depression lasting at least 2 years, corresponding to DSM-III-R and -IV criteria. Patients with chronic depression (n = 64) were compared with those with nonchronic depression (n = 179). Chronicity was not related to gender, symptom severity, prior length of illness, age at onset of illness, RDC endogenous/nonendogenous, RDC primary/secondary or Winokur's family-history subtypes. Those with chronic depression were older and had fewer major depressive episodes than the nonchronic group. That the chronic group had fewer total episodes of depression than the nonchronic group, but a similar age at onset, is consistent with the notion that patients in a current chronic episode have characteristically longer depressive episodes throughout the course of their illness. Those with chronic episodes may be subject to psychological, biological and/or sociocultural factors that preclude an earlier episode remission for these individuals.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Reduced REM latency predicts response to tricyclic medication in depressed outpatients.

Forty-two outpatients with major depressive disorder entered a double-blind, randomized trial of either desipramine or amitriptyline for a minimum of 6 weeks. Pretreatment polysomnographic and clinical measures were used to predict response. Response was defined as a 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score less than or equal to 9 at the end of treatment. There was a 61.1% response rate for patients treated with amitriptyline and a 66.7% response rate for patients treated with desipramine. Reduced REM latency (2-night mean less than or equal to 65.0 min) predicted a positive response to these tricyclic antidepressants. REM latency did not differentiate between desipramine or amitriptyline responders. More patients with reduced REM latency (80%) responded to treatment compared with patients with nonreduced REM latency (50%). The 80% response rate in reduced REM latency depressed patients confirms our previous findings in a mixed inpatient and outpatient sample. Contrary to our hypothesis, in this sample, endogenous depression was not associated with a good response to tricyclic medication.

Adolescent↗