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Biomedical subjects

L Michelson

Publications and source records attributed to L Michelson.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

The role of trauma and dissociation in cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy outcome and maintenance for panic disorder with agoraphobia.

The relationship between traumatic experiences and dissociation with pretreatment psychopathology and rates of recovery, relapse and maintenance for patients receiving cognitive-behavioral treatments for panic disorder with agoraphobia (PDA) were investigated. One-hundred and forty-seven subjects who met DSM-III criteria for agoraphobia with panic attacks and who completed participation in one of two previously conducted treatment outcome studies were mailed packets containing measures to assess history of trauma, victimization and dissociation. Eighty-nine of these were returned and completed sufficiently to be included in the present study. It was hypothesized that a variety of trauma-related variables (e.g. history of traumatic experience, type of trauma, age at which the trauma first occurred, perceived responsibility, social supports available, self-perceived severity, level of violence, and whether or not the traumatic event was followed by self-injurious or suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors) and dissociative symptomatology would be predictive of (1) greater psychopathology at pretreatment, (2) poorer treatment response and (3) higher relapse rates and poorer maintenance over a 1 year longitudinal follow-up. These hypotheses were supported by the findings and the theoretical, empirical and clinical implications are discussed.

Adult↗

An 18-year experience with the umbrella graft in rhinoplasty.

Inadequate nasal tip projection is the most common problem of primary and secondary rhinoplasty. Inadequate nasal tip projection with inadequate septal support requires an umbrella graft. The umbrella graft consists of a vertical cartilaginous strut between the medial crura and a horizontal onlay graft overlying the alar domes. The umbrella graft supports the nasal tip pyramid and reestablishes nasal tip projection. The statistics included in this report involve 1252 cases from 1986 to 1996, and it was discovered that 22 percent of the patients required an umbrella graft. Most of these patients had secondary rhinoplasties. The revision rate was 5 percent; the most common complication was cartilaginous show. Cartilage graft loss or significant absorption was not observed. A closed rhinoplasty approach with autologous tissue to reconstruct nasal tip projection was used. The umbrella graft technique is time proven, successful, and reproducible.

Adolescent↗

Comprehensive drug screening in blood for detecting abused drugs or drugs potentially hazardous for traffic safety.

A comprehensive drug screening procedure for detecting drugs in the blood samples of car drivers suspected of driving under the influence of drugs, is presented. Amphetamines, cannabinoids, opioids, cocaine and benzodiazepines were screened by an immunological EMIT ETS system after acetone precipitation. Gas chromatographic methods were used to screen and quantitate basic, neutral and acidic drugs. The free amino groups of basic drugs were derivatized with heptafluorobutyric anhydride. Analysis was performed by a dual channel gas chromatograph combined with a nitrogen phosphorus and an electron capture detector. Phenyltrimethylammonium hydroxide was used as a methylathing agent for acidic substances before analysis with a gas chromatograph connected to a nitrogen phosphorus detector. A gas chromatograph/mass spectrometry was used as a common confirmation method. Tetrahydrocannabinol was quantitated after bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide derivatization, opiates after pentafluoropropionic anhydride derivatization and benzoylecgonine after pentafluoropropionic anhydride and pentafluoropropanol derivatization. Excluding benzodiazepines, which were confirmed with a gas chromatograph connected to a nitrogen phosphorus and an electron capture detector, the other basic drugs as well as the acidic drugs were confirmed after the same derivatization procedures as in the screening methods. Alcohols were quantitated in triplicate by gas chromatography using three different kinds of columns. Although urine is the most important specimen for screening abused drugs, it has only limited use in forensic toxicology. The described system is most useful for analyzing a wide range of substances, including illicit drugs, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, antidepressants and phenothiazenes in forensic samples when urine is not available.

Accidents, Traffic↗

Drugs usage of drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. A study of one week's samples in 1979 and 1993 in Finland.

The extent of drug use among drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs in Finland was studied. All blood samples submitted to the laboratory during 1 week in two study periods, in 1979 (n = 298) and 1993 (n = 332), were analyzed for alcohol and psychotropic drugs. Drugs classified as hazardous to traffic safety were detected in 7.0% of the samples in 1979 and 26.8% in 1993. Benzodiazepines were the most frequently found drugs in both years: 6.0% of the cases in 1979 and 22.9% in 1993. Illegal drugs were found in 4% of the cases in 1993. Of the samples tested, 296 in 1979 and 317 in 1993 were from drivers suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol only. In 1979 every fourteenth and in 1993 every fourth of these suspected drunken drivers had drugs in their blood. Drugs, other than alcohol, were found six times more often than expected by the police. The results indicate that the trend of drug use, multidrug use and drug abuse is increasing among cases suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol/drugs.

Accidents, Traffic↗

Psychophysiological outcome of cognitive, behavioral and psychophysiologically-based treatments of agoraphobia.

Psychophysiological process and outcome phenomena were analyzed to examine differential temporal patterns within and across cognitive, behavioral and physiologically-based treatments of agoraphobia. Eighty-eight severe and chronic agoraphobics with panic attacks (DSM-III) were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: Paradoxical Intention, Graduated Exposure or Progressive Deep Muscle Relaxation Training. Protocol therapists, whose treatment integrity was objectively monitored, conducted 12 two-hour weekly sessions. All subjects received programmed practice instructions concurrent with their primary treatment. Analyses revealed numerous significant reductions on in vivo psychophysiological measures for the relaxation condition, a few improvements for the exposure treatment and no effects for the paradoxical intention modality. The mediating role of pretreatment physiological reactivity in treatment outcome and follow-up status was examined and revealed no significant associations. Synchrony-desynchrony patterns were found to vary widely according to both treatment phase and the time interval between assessments. No between-group differences were observed on the proportion of synchronizers. However, synchronizers exhibited superior outcome and follow-up compared to desynchronizers on all domains except the physiological measures. Conceptual, methodological and clinical implications of these findings are discussed with recommendations for future research.

Adult↗

Panic disorder: cognitive-behavioral treatment.

The effectiveness of an integrated treatment program utilizing cognitive-behavioral therapies for Panic Disorder was examined. Treatment was comprised of Cognitive Model of Panic-derived procedures, Cognitive Therapy and Applied Relaxation Training. Subjects meeting DSM-III-R criteria for Panic Disorder received thirteen 2.5-hr sessions of outpatient therapy in small groups, over a 12-week period. Subjects were given an extensive rationale of the etiology, development and maintenance of Panic Disorder, within the framework of the Cognitive Model of Panic, and controlled behavioral experiments in panic evocation to internal panicogenic cues, cognitive reappraisal of somatic and ideational cues, breathing retraining, Applied Relaxation Training and Cognitive Therapy to identify and remediate maladaptive beliefs and dysfunctional cognitive schemas. A comprehensive assessment battery was given at pre-mid-post-treatment which included measures of tripartite functioning, global severity, panic, fear, anxiety, depression and psychiatric symptomatology. Analyses indicated statistically significant improvements across all outcome domains. All subjects were free of spontaneous (uncued) panic attacks at post-treatment, and all met operationalized criteria for high endstate functioning. These findings are discussed, with recommendations for future research.

Adult↗

Two-year follow-up of exposure and imipramine treatment of agoraphobia.

Sixty-two agoraphobic patient who had completed a controlled study of therapist-assisted in vivo exposure (flooding) and imipramine were assessed 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years later. Overall, improvement during treatment was maintained throughout follow-up. At 1 month but not subsequently, imipramine and flooding had significant effects on central measures of agoraphobia. Patients who were marked treatment responders had a favorable clinical course and did not experience secondary depression, unlike patients who had not responded markedly to treatment. These findings suggest that treatments which evoke maximum therapeutic benefit initially are likely to foster long-term maintenance and reduce subsequent depressive sequelae.

Agoraphobia↗

Agoraphobia: relative and combined effectiveness of therapist-assisted in vivo exposure and imipramine.

Sixty-two chronically agoraphobic patients completed a controlled study to assess the effects of 1) imipramine up to 200 mg/day (mean = 130 mg/day), 2) 12 weekly therapist-assisted in vivo exposure sessions (flooding), and 3) imipramine plus flooding. The control group received systematic therapeutic instructions for self-directed in vivo exposure (programmed practice). Clinical measures of global severity, phobia, panic, anxiety, depression, and behavioral performance tests were administered before treatment and at Weeks 4, 8, and 12 of treatment. Results revealed significant improvement in all groups on all measures over the course of treatment; almost a third of the control patients showed marked improvement. Imipramine had significant effects on improvement of phobias and markedly increased clinical response rates in patients receiving 150-200 mg/day. Less chronicity and severity of condition also predicted better clinical outcome. Flooding had limited effects above and beyond programmed practice, and no imipramine-flooding interactions effects were found.

Adult↗

Tricyclic antidepressants in obsessive-compulsive disorder: antiobsessional or antidepressant agents? II.

The authors explored the relationship between the antiobsessional and antidepressant effects of tricyclic drugs in primary obsessive-compulsive disorders. Study 1 consisted of a controlled 12-week trial with clomipramine (N = 7) and placebo (N = 5); study 2 analyzed the pooled data from 15 patients uniformly selected and treated with either clomipramine or imipramine. Although the antiobsessional and antidepressant effects of the drugs covaried, their antidepressant action was not a prerequisite for their antiobsessional effect. The findings suggest that clomipramine and probably imipramine possess specific antiobsessive effects that are at least partially independent of their antidepressant effects.

Adult↗

Paradoxical intention in the treatment of agoraphobia and other anxiety disorders.

Following a description of the paradoxical intention procedure and a brief review of the general behavioral literature relevant to this technique, the authors focus on the role of paradoxical treatment programs for agoraphobic clients. The cognitive and exposure components of paradoxical intention are discussed and the procedure is compared and contrasted with other cognitive behavioral methods on one hand, and with flooding on the other. Finally, the authors provide several ideas for future research.

Agoraphobia↗