Biomedical subjects

K Thau

Publications and source records attributed to K Thau.

25 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

PubMed1991

[Personality profile in bipolar schizoaffective psychoses. A comparison with bipolar affective psychoses].

The aim of this study was to investigate personality profiles in patients with bipolar affective and schizoaffective disorder, classified according to ICD-9 criteria using objective psychological tests (Personal Research Form, Objective Analytical Test Battery, IPC-Query Form). The bipolar schizoaffective patients were further subtyped according to Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) into schizoaffective-affective and schizoaffective-schizophrenic patients. 81 patients took part in the study (29 bipolar affective and 52 bipolar schizoaffective patients; the latter were subtyped into 23 schizoaffective-schizophrenic and 29 schizoaffective-affective patients). We showed that the personality profiles are quite similar in schizoaffective-affective and schizoaffective-schizophrenic patients if compared to purely affective patients. But indeed there are pronounced differences between the schizoaffective-affective and the schizoaffective-schizophrenic subtypes, so that subtyping schizoaffective disorder like done in Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) seems to show that schizoaffective disorders are not a homogenous group.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Computerized documentation for lithium outpatients (routine and research data).

To follow up the status and further outcome of patients with recurrent affective and schizoaffective disorders treated in a lithium/prophylactic treatment outpatient (LOP) clinic the authors have developed a documentation system based on a database, which ASCII files. This system should be useful as a basis for optimal treatment and is helpful for special research purposes regarding prophylactic treatment (lithium salts, carbamazepine, antidepressants, etc.). The documentation system consists of two parts, one for routine documentation system consists of two parts, one for routine monitoring including basic data, global course, and routine form with side-effects, and another one for research purposes with documentation of laboratory findings, EEG, and documentation of every cycle which can be added easily. Moreover, with this documentation system it will be possible to compare results from different research centres.

Computers↗

PubMed1989

Effect of lithium on the EEG of healthy males and females. A probability mapping study.

This study is based on 20 healthy volunteers (10 males and 10 females). Between 675 and 1,225 mg lithium carbonate per day was applied for 10 days. EEG was recorded before (day 0) and after lithium intake (day 10) with 19 electrodes and quantified by spectrum analyses. Absolute power and coherence values, between adjacent electrodes and between electrodes on homologous sites of both hemispheres, were computed for five frequency bands. For the evaluation of differences of the EEG parameters obtained on days 0 and 10, a nonparametric paired permutation test was applied. The obtained descriptive error probabilities were presented in topographic maps. Under lithium, the absolute power increased in the entire frequency range, but most distinct in the theta and beta 1 band. The local coherence analyses revealed a clear lateralization: increase in the left hemisphere and decrease in the right. The interhemispheric coherence decreased occipitally and frontally. A comparison of the EEG changes under lithium in males and females showed clear differences in the topographic distribution of power as well as coherence changes.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

[Carbamazepine (Tegretol) monotherapy in epilepsies with partial and/or secondary generalized seizures in childhood and adolescence].

The effectiveness and side effects of a carbamazepine monotherapy were evaluated in 40 children and adolescents (22 boys and 18 girls with an age distribution between 1 and 16 years) over a period of 6 years. In addition the attempt has been made, to find correlations between sex, age of seizure onset, aetiology of the disease, types of seizures, and EEG-abnormalities on the one hand, and the clinical response to the drug on the other. Selection criteria were, that the patients were under continuous follow-up, that they suffered from partial or/and secondarily generalized seizures and that Tegretol was the first and only drug at the beginning of the examination. The treatment with the Carbamazepine-monotherapy was successful in 63% of the patients, 37% remained resistant to the treatment. Carbamazepine proved to be effective against partial seizures as well as secondarily generalized grand-mal-seizures. The therapeutic range of the serum carbamazepine levels during monotherapy varied between 15-35 mu Mol/l. 40 patients entered, 38 completed the study. In two cases the drug had to be stopped owing to allergic skin rash due to the drug. No other serious side effects were observed in any of the remaining 38 patients. The most frequent laboratory changes were an increase of Gamma-GT and leucopenia. All the cases who became seizure-free (Responder) were compared with the remaining cases with unfavourable treatment results (Nonresponder) in order to find out whether there are significant differences between the two groups, as far as sex, age ... etc. (see above) are concerned.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

Computer-assisted EEG topography as a tool in the evaluation of actions of psychoactive drugs in patients.

This paper summarizes a tentative application of EEG topography to the evaluation of the efficiency of psychoactive drugs. It shows that the spectral content of the EEG, recorded simultaneously at different locations according to the international 10-20 system, is a sensitive measure for the quantification of drug activity. Furthermore, coherence analysis reveals differences in the functional organization of the neocortex under neuroleptic drug therapy.

Antipsychotic Agents↗

PubMed1984

Heterogeneity of delusional syndromes: diagnostic criteria and course prognosis.

In addition to genetic findings and treatment response, the course prognosis is also meant to be a possible validating criterion for diagnosis and diagnostic systems. In our study we used the polydiagnostic approach (i.e. the simultaneous application of various criteria for diagnosing a given disorder to one and the same population) to test the ability of several diagnostic systems to create homogeneous groups regarding the course (episodic/chronic). We applied Schneider's FRS, ICD-9, DSM-III, Spitzer's RDC and the Vienna Research Criteria to 90 patients with the diagnosis of delusional syndrome (aside from any nosological classification), who underwent 6-9 years of follow-up. At the index examination, schizophrenia was most frequently diagnosed with Schneider's FRS, which apparently encompasses a very heterogeneous group of patients regarding psychopathology and course. Diagnostic systems which allowed the diagnosis of affective disorders despite the presence of mood-incongruent delusional symptomatology (DSM-III, RDC, Vienna Criteria) or offered the diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder (DSM-III, RDC) succeeded in separating subgroups with an episodic course on a statistically significant level. In ICD-9 this significance appeared only after exclusion of the schizoaffective cases from the group of schizophrenias. Our data thus uphold the old rule of thumb that affective symptomatology apparently has a very high prognostic value regarding the course of the illness and is in this respect superior to productive symptomatology (such as delusions and hallucinations), still taken to be pathognomonic for schizophrenia by some of the diagnostic criteria under study. This aspect warrants further investigation and should be taken into account in the development and improvement of diagnostic manuals (e.g. ICD-10, DSM-IV).

Adolescent↗

PubMed1984

[Complicating etiological factors in pregnancy and the perinatal period for epilepsy in childhood].

The aim of this survey, examining childhood epilepsies with pathological findings in pregnancy and perinatal, was to find out if patient collective was homogenous considering the parameters: type of seizures, EEG and Computer Tomography, or if a further syndromatological differentiation could be made. We found, that on one side our examined population could be divided into two subgroups, based on the combination of seizure type and EEG findings. On the other hand the CAT-findings and the number of focal slow wave activity or of increased tendency to focal paroxysmal activity show a very good correspondence with the diagnostic criteria of our patient collective.

Age Factors↗