PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

G Kurtz

Publications and source records attributed to G Kurtz.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

[Depression in the very elderly].

In the Berlin Aging Study (BASE) an age and gender stratified sample of 516 persons aged 70 to over 100 was assessed by means of the semi-structured GMS-A interview, the CES-D-self-rating scale and the Hamiltion-Depression-observer-rating scale. Prevalence rates were 4.8% for Major Depression, 9.1% for all DSM III-R specified depressive disorders and 26.9% of subthreshold depression was included. There was no increase in prevalence rates with age but an increase in scores on the self rating CES-D. The prevalence rates for DSM III-R specified depression in females was 10.3% and almost double that of men (5.6%). Depressed persons do not show significant cognitive impairment as measured with the MMSE in comparison to controls. As compared to the total sample higher prevalence rates of overall depression were seen in persons with multimorbidity (36.8%) and lower rates in married persons. 13.2% of the elderly talked about feeling tired with life, 7.9% had thoughts about death and 1.2% reported suicidal ideation, which was closely linked to depressive disorders. In 44% of depressed cases undertreatment was observed. Only 6% got Antidepressants but 40% benzodiazepines.

Aged↗
PubMed1996

Dysmorphophobia: differential-diagnostic aspects.

The case of a patient presenting with a depressive-suicidal syndrome and dysmorphophobia, which also showed a delusional character, is discussed concerning the differential-diagnostic difficulties. The nosology of the disorder is discussed especially regarding the variants in the new classification systems.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Tourette's syndrome associated with restless legs syndrome and akathisia in a family.

A family with coincidence of a restless leg syndrome (RLS) in the mother and a Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) in the son who also shows increased vulnerability to neuroleptic induced akathisia (NIA) is presented. Since these diseases show parallels from a genetic, pathogenetic and clinical point of view, the familiar coincidence is discussed under these aspects with respect to suggested disturbances of the dopamine and the opiate systems in RLS, GTS, and NIA.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Rhabdomyolysis in neuroleptic therapy: an abortive malignant neuroleptic syndrome?].

We report on the case of a 24 year old female patient, who, at first developed during 8 weeks of neuroleptic therapy parkinsonism and then, after improvement of psychopathology an acute rhabdomyolysis. Hyper-Ck-aemia up to 11,340 U/l was observed. Laboratory parameters normalized shortly after neuroleptics had been withdrawn and no further complications followed. Symptomatology is discussed with special reference to the possibility of an abortive malignant neuroleptic syndrome.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Complex focal seizures as a cause of long-term paranoid psychoses in advanced age].

Many organic diseases of the brain--including intoxications, inflammatory or neoplastic disorders--can cause acute psychosis. Even if the psychotic symptoms last for several years, the possibility of an organic cause should be borne in mind. We report the case of a patient with a paranoid disorder for two years before admission. The EEG showed generalized 1-2 Hz spike and wave complexes. These epileptic activities--and also the paranoid symptoms--ceased completely after administration of an antiepileptic medication.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

[Pisa syndrome in clozapine therapy].

Neuroleptic therapy frequently induces undesirable extrapyramidal side effects. The Pisa syndrome is a rare extrapyramidal side effect caused by neuroleptic treatment. Twisting and bending to one side of the upper thorax, the neck and the head are its typical symptoms. These symptoms mainly develop in elderly patients with a history of neuroleptic treatment. To our knowledge there have been no reports of Pisa syndrome occurring during therapy with clozapine--an atypical neuroleptic drug with no major extrapyramidal side effects. We report on 4 female patients suffering from a chronic schizophrenic and/or depressive condition and having been on a long-term neuroleptic treatment. These patients developed a dystonia equivalent to the Pisa syndrome during an acute clozapine therapy. All four women had signs of marked brain atrophy, two of them also showing tardive dyskinesia already prior to the treatment with clozapine. The etiology of the Pisa syndrome is discussed with respect to discontinuation of treatment with classic neuroleptics, coinciding with the beginning of the clozapine therapy, clinical phenomenology, history of medication, course of treatment, and results of cranial computer tomography.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Brain dysfunction during motor activation and corpus callosum alterations in schizophrenia measured by cerebral blood flow and magnetic resonance imaging.

Sixteen unmedicated (14 never-medicated, 2 with washout periods of 1-2 weeks) schizophrenic patients displaying positive symptoms (e.g., formal thought disorder, hallucinations, delusions) without negative symptoms (e.g., flattening of affect, loss of energy, anhedonia--type I patients), 15 unmedicated (with washout periods from 1 week to 2 years) patients with marked negative symptomatology [type II patients; criterion score below 15/above 35 on the Munich version of the Scale of Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS), respectively], and 31 matched normal controls were investigated using regional cerebral blood flow [rCBF; dynamic single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) with Xenon-133 as tracer] and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI; spin-echo technique, T1 weighted, midsagittal cuts). rCBF measurements were performed during both resting conditions and simple motor activation. Separately, on the same day, we performed a planimetric evaluation of the callosal-brain ratio in all subjects using MRI. In accordance with previous results on a smaller sample, we found signs of diffuse bilateral rCBF hyperactivation in type I patients, as compared with signs of nonreactivity in type II schizophrenics. Both activation patterns were different from a strictly contralateral sensorimotor rCBF activation seen in normal persons (only 8 studied with SPECT). The planimetry of relative callosal area did not reveal differences compared to normal persons, when type I/II patients were taken together. However, the threefold increased variance as compared with that found in normal persons suggested biological heterogeneity in patients. We found an increase of relative callosal size in type I as compared with type II patients. In the light of some recent findings linking lack of laterality of several brain functions to increased callosal size, we propose lack of laterality/diffuse hyperactivation and increased callosal size to be connected with positive symptomatology/good prognosis schizophrenia, and vice versa.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Elevated response of growth hormone to graded doses of apomorphine in schizophrenic patients.

Three different dosages of apomorphine (0.003 mg/kg, 0.006 mg/kg, 0.012 mg/kg) were administered to stimulate the release of growth hormone (GH) in 16 male schizophrenic patients (age: 30.6, SD: 8.1 years) and 12 healthy male controls (age: 29, SD: 3.2 years). Results showed a significantly higher GH response (P < 0.01) after stimulation with 0.006 mg/kg apomorphine (APO). In contrast, stimulation with 0.012 apomorphine was unable to distinguish patients from normal controls. The results support the hypothesis of an increased dopaminergic receptor sensitivity in the hypothalamic-pituitary system of acute schizophrenic patients. This disturbance of dopaminergic neurotransmission could be observed only after a stimulation with low doses of apomorphine.

Acute Disease↗