PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

L M Russakoff

Publications and source records attributed to L M Russakoff.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1984

Structured interviews and borderline personality disorder.

A study was designed to determine whether the Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines (DIB) might be scored from the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS), and also whether DIB scores predicted the clinical diagnosis of DSM-III borderline personality disorder. One pair of clinicians interviewed patients with the DIB, and another pair interviewed the same patients with a slightly modified version of the SADS. Both interviews diagnosed virtually the same patients as borderline according to the criteria of Gunderson and Singer. The sensitivity of DIB scores in predicting a DSM-III diagnosis of borderline was 70%, while the specificity was 90%; the intraclass correlation coefficient was .75. Although there is a substantial concordance, the disparity between the DSM-III and DIB systems of diagnosing borderline patients is sufficiently great to preclude the generalization of findings from studies employing one set of criteria to those employing the other.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

A case report of leukopenia associated with phenelzine.

Leukopenia, a rare but serious side effect of many psychotropic agents including monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), has not been reported in the literature in association with phenelzine. The authors report such a case and suggest a toxic etiology independent of MAOI activity.

Adult↗
PubMed1983

Seclusion. Patterns and milieu.

Patterns of locked seclusion use were reviewed on an inpatient service caring for both voluntary and involuntary patients. Hospital records of 313 sequentially admitted patients were studied, comparing those patients requiring one or more episode of seclusion with those never secluded. Eighteen per cent of the patients studied were secluded, a group significantly younger, more likely to have a manic-like illness, more often never married, and more frequently involuntarily hospitalized than the nonsecluded group. Patterns of seclusion frequency, duration, and numbers of episodes per patient are discussed in the context of the milieu. The modal pattern of seclusion in our study was for it to occur in the first week of hospitalization, for there to be one or two episodes per patient, and for total seclusion time to be 3 hours or less. The authors conclude that early and judicious use of seclusion with both voluntary and involuntary patients is compatible with modern hospital work and that the pattern of use reflects both clinical and milieu parameters.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

The structure and technique of community meetings: the short-term unit.

Most psychiatric inpatient units call themselves therapeutic communities and hold community meetings where patients and staff meet for a specified period of time (Clark 1977; Joint Commission on Mental illness and Health 1961; Jones et al. 1953; Moline 1976; Wessen 1964). On short-term units which receive a wide spectrum of patients, including involuntary, acutely disturbed and demented patients, the structure and techniques used in running community meetings must be altered from the ways initially described by Jones et al. Certain patients do not function well if the more traditional, less structured model is followed. We will describe specific structural and technical parameters which permit the accommodation of the community meeting to the needs of these patients and result in fewer "failures." These parameters are in part based on the experimental studies by Abramczuk (1972), Daniels and Rubin (1968), and Rubin (1979), who demonstrated the need for more structure. We will describe a typical community meeting on a short-term unit, discussing recurrent themes and patient government.

Communication↗
PubMed1980

Neuropsychiatric diagnosis on a short-term treatment service.

The evaluation of suspected neuropsychiatric disorder in a series of 17 patients is described. The heuristic value of DSM-III's multiaxial approach is noted. The use of routine and neuropsychological tests, EEGs, CAT scans, T-3 and T-4 tests, and lumbar puncture, in conjunction with prolonged behavioral observation in a stable, therapeutic milieu, provided the means for clarification of neuropsychiatric illness in this series of complex cases. The value of CAT scans, neuropsychological tests and of prolonged behavioral observation in selected cases is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1980

Catatonia with frontal lobe atrophy.

A middleaged woman with a four year history of behavioural change including episodes of catatonia is described. Despite a persistently abnormal electroencephalogram, the patient was diagnosed repeatedly as suffering from a primary psychiatric disorder. Neurological examination and psychological testing suggested frontal lobe dysfunction, which was confirmed by the finding of isolated frontal lobe atrophy on computed axial tomography.

Atrophy↗