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J F Serrano

Publications and source records attributed to J F Serrano.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Patterns of symptoms in neuroleptic-naive patients with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders before and after treatment.

A three-factor structure of schizophrenic symptoms has received considerable support, but there are no data on the factor structure of symptoms in neuroleptic-naive patients and how symptoms evolve after the inception of antipsychotic treatment. Seventy neuroleptic-naive patients with schizophrenia or related psychotic disorders were assessed with the Scales for the Assessment of Positive and Negative Symptoms before and after neuroleptic treatment. Ten global ratings of symptoms were subjected to factor analysis at the two time points and the factor solutions compared. A three-factor structure composed of psychotic, disorganization, and negative dimensions was found at the two assessment points. The negative and disorganization factors were highly correlated at each assessment and across assessments. While the symptom composition of the factors at the neuroleptic-naive assessment fitted that described in most previous studies, the composition of the negative and disorganization factors after neuroleptic treatment was somewhat different in that attention and inappropriate affect loaded on the negative factor instead of the disorganization factor. It is concluded that caution is warranted when using the three-factor model of schizophrenic symptoms as it may not be stable at different phases of the illness.

Adult↗
PubMed2001

Classification issues in catatonia.

Kahlbaum described catatonia as a disorder in which mood syndromes were the primary features and the characteristic symptoms were the motor signs. In the present study, we examined the relationship between motor features and other syndromes of psychosis, the clinical validity of Kahlbaum's concept of catatonia, its relationship to schizophrenia and mood disorder, and its nosological position in relation to DSM-III-R, DSM-IV and Leonhard's classification of endogenous psychoses. Patients with Kahlbaum's catatonia differed from patients with schizophrenia or mood disorder in various demographic and clinical variables. Positive and negative motor syndromes, although interrelated, showed a different correlational pattern with other psychotic syndromes. Catatonia did not appear to fit into any particular nosological category, although this issue largely depends on whether schizophrenia and mood disorders are broadly or restrictively defined. When definitions are more restrictive as in Leonhard's system, catatonia seems to be better accommodated as a "third psychosis", i.e. described by the concept of cycloid psychosis.

Affective Disorders, Psychotic↗
PubMed2000

Differentiating primary from secondary negative symptoms in schizophrenia: a study of neuroleptic-naive patients before and after treatment.

OBJECTIVE: The study examined the primary versus secondary character of negative symptoms in a group of first-episode, neuroleptic-naive psychotic patients before and after they started neuroleptic treatment. METHOD: Forty-seven inpatients with a first episode of schizophrenia or related psychotic disorders were examined for the presence of negative symptoms, psychosis, depression, and parkinsonism at admission to an inpatient psychiatric unit, before receiving neuroleptics, and at discharge an average 3.3 weeks later, after starting neuroleptic treatment. RESULTS: Although patients' mean scores on measures of positive, negative, and depressive symptoms decreased significantly over the treatment period, the mean rating of nonakinetic parkinsonism worsened. The mean rating of akinetic parkinsonism did not change significantly over the treatment period. Negative symptoms at admission were not predicted by positive or depressive symptoms at admission. Residual negative symptoms at discharge were mainly predicted by negative symptoms at admission (i.e., primary symptoms) and to a negligible degree by residual positive and depressive symptoms. Change in negative symptoms over the observation period was predicted to a marginal degree by change in depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Negative symptoms rated during a first psychotic episode before and after starting antipsychotic treatment are mainly primary in character and should be considered as a direct manifestation of the basic dysfunctions of schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Serum iron in catatonic and noncatatonic psychotic patients.

BACKGROUND: Since low serum iron has been reported in a variety of neuropsychiatric motor disorders, this study was conducted to examine serum iron in patients with a catatonic disorder. METHODS: Forty catatonic and 40 noncatatonic psychotic patients were studied in relation to serum iron levels. The association of serum iron with other clinical variables was also examined. RESULTS: Catatonics had significantly lower mean serum iron than noncatatonics. Ferropenia (serum iron < 50 micrograms/dL) was significantly more prevalent in the catatonic (35%) than in the noncatatonic (7.5%) group. Severity of catatonic symptoms was inversely correlated with level of serum iron, this being due to the negative catatonic symptoms (r = -.34, p = .002). CONCLUSIONS: A subgroup of catatonic patients had ferropenia. Lower serum iron level was associated with both the presence of a categorically defined catatonic syndrome and the severity of the negative catatonic symptoms.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The Kahlbaum syndrome: a study of its clinical validity, nosological status, and relationship with schizophrenia and mood disorder.

Kahlbaum described catatonia as a disorder in which mood syndromes were the primary features and characteristic symptoms were the motor ones. However, after Kahlbaum this concept has not been taken into account and catatonia has been identified with motor features alone. In the present study, we assessed the clinical validity of Kahlbaum's concept of catatonia, its nosological position in relation to DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and Leonhard's diagnostic criteria, and its relationships with schizophrenia and mood disorder. Of 567 patients consecutively admitted due to a functional psychotic disorder, 45 met criteria for catatonia according to Kahlbaum's concept (the Kahlbaum syndrome [KS]). Patients with the KS were differentiated from those with schizophrenia and mood disorders across a number of demographic and clinical variables, the differences being greater with the former than with the latter group. KS does not appear to fit any particular nosologic category, although this issue largely depends on whether schizophrenia and mood disorder are broadly or restrictively defined. When definitions of both disorders are most restrictive, as in the case of the Leonhard system, KS seems better accommodated as a "third psychosis". Overall, the data raise the possibility that KS is either a variant of mood disorder, or a distinct clinical entity.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Influence of phosphorus and calcium on flame atomic absorption spectrophotometric determination of lead in canned fish products.

Lead was determined in the presence of whole multiples of the P/Ca ratio found in Portuguese canned fish by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry with and without using an ashing aid. Under our experimental conditions, use of the ashing aid eliminates P and Ca interference. Results with real samples, spiked with 1, 2, 3, and 4 ppm lead, are presented and statistically treated.

Animals↗