Biomedical subjects

M J Perez-Echeverria

Publications and source records attributed to M J Perez-Echeverria.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Epileptic consciousness: concept and meaning of aura.

This research is based on previous publications that have analyzed certain neuropsychological phenomena that always have the same characteristic clinical features: a vivid experience of sudden onset and automatic development, accompanied by an intense sensation of strangeness. When these automatisms are accompanied by only mental symptoms, the designation paroxysmal psychic automatisms (PPAs) is proposed, and they should be interpreted as partial seizures (PSs) with a psychic content whenever they clearly exhibit the four features of suddenness, passivity, intensity, and strangeness. This interpretation is based on the existence of a wealth of scientific literature indicating an overlap between PPAs and PSs; moreover, bibliographic reviews indicate that the clinical signs just defined as characterizing PPAs are precisely those defining the epileptic consciousness.

Automatism↗

PubMed2005

Panic and epilepsy.

Research is presented to support a hypothesis that panic attacks, when they have the same clinical signs as the epileptic consciousness, should be diagnosed as partial seizures with a psychic content. After setting out the four clinical signs defining it (suddenness, automatic nature, great intensity and strangeness), an extensive review of the literature is made in search of scientific information to support the hypothesis, which reveals a wealth of concurring scientific evidence, at both the clinical and preclinical levels, to support the hypothesis presented here. In conclusion, new research is proposed with a view to drawing up interviews and clinical scales in order to quantify the four clinical signs objectively.

Amygdala↗

PubMed1996

Screening of somatization disorder: validation of the Spanish version of the Othmer and DeSouza test.

The objective of this study was to validate the Spanish version of the Othmer and DeSouza Screening Test for Somatization Disorder. We have designed a validity study using the Standardized Polyvalent Psychiatric Interview, an instrument specifically designed to diagnose psychiatric morbidity in medical settings as the 'golden rule'. The control group displayed 'functional' and 'presenting' somatization. The Othmer and DeSouza Screening Test, with a threshold of three symptoms, shows 88% sensitivity, 78% specificity and a misclassification rate of 17%. It is concluded that Othmer and DeSouza's screening test, with a threshold of three symptoms, is a useful tool for the diagnosis of somatization disorder in medical and primary care settings in Spain. Discrepancies with US findings are discussed on a cross-cultural basis.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Somatisation in primary care in Spain: I. Estimates of prevalence and clinical characteristics. Working Group for the Study of the Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Morbidity in Zaragoza.

BACKGROUND: This is the first attempt to study the prevalence and clinical characteristics of somatisation (ST) in a representative primary care sample in Spain. METHOD: The sample consisted of 1559 consecutive patients attending eight randomly selected health centres in Zaragoza, Spain, examined by two-phase screening. First phase (lay interviewers): Spanish versions of GHQ-28, CAGE questionnaire, substance abuse, Mini-Mental State Examination. Second phase (research clinicians and psychiatrists): Standardised Polyvalent Psychiatric Interview, which permits the reliable coding of Bridges & Goldberg's ST criteria. RESULTS: The prevalence of somatisers was 9.4% (34.5% of the cases) and most patients (68.7%) were diagnosed in the depression or anxiety DSM-IV categories. The severity was moderate in 401% and 66.6% were chronic (six or more months). No significant demographic differences were found with non-cases. Backache was the most frequent somatic presentation (71.4+%). CONCLUSIONS: ST in primary care is a much broader phenomenon than categories such as somatoform disorders reflect. It may be less influenced by sociodemographic factors, but more chronic than previously reported.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Somatisation in primary care in Spain: II. Differences between somatisers and psychologisers. Working Group for the Study of the Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Morbidity in Zaragoza.

BACKGROUND: This study is the first attempt to document the differences between somatisers (STs) and psychologisers (PGs) in Spanish primary care patients. METHOD: A sample of 1559 consecutive patients attending eight randomly selected health centres in Zaragoza, were examined in a two-phase screening using Spanish versions of GH-28, CAGE questionnaire, substance abuse, MMSE and SPPI. STs and PGs were diagnosed according to operationalised Bridges & Goldberg's criteria. RESULTS: ST was found to be three times more prevalent than PG, but the ratio ST: PG was highest (10.5) in the DSM-IV category dysthymia. Generalised anxiety disorder was the most frequent diagnosis in STs and major depressive episode the most frequent in PGs. No significant differences between the two groups have been found in demographic characteristics. Total GHQ scores were significantly higher in PGs, but global SPPI scores were not. Most psychopathological scores were higher in PGs, but both somatic symptoms and suspiciousness were higher in STs. The psychopathological findings are consistent with hypotheses related to blame avoidance and defensiveness in STs. CONCLUSIONS: ST is three times more prevalent than PG, but the ratio ST: PG depends heavily on diagnostic categories. While most psychopathological scores are higher in PGs, both patient groups are similarly disturbed. Previously assumed socio-demographic differences between STs and PGs have not been found in this study.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Standardized evaluation of obsessive phenomena in patients in general medicine. Prevalence and correlations].

Clinical experience in general hospital psychiatry and literature reviews supported the conjecture that psychopathological disturbances are frequent among medical patients. Wide discrepancies of prevalence data reported by different authors, however, suggested the importance of undertaking screening studies with standardized methods of assessment. Our initial studies in oncological patients confirmed the hypothesis, but also documented obsessive phenomena, assessed with Present State Examination (PSE) criteria, in more than one third of patients diagnosed of depression Consecutive studies in different medical samples have replicated those preliminary findings in the last one, close to one quarter of first day consecutive patients seen in an internal medicine out-patient clinic, and more than three quarters of the ones diagnosed of either anxiety or depression with Research Diagnostic Criteria, had obsessive symptoms as defined by the Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS). Obsessive symptoms, however, have also been observed in individuals considered to be "non-cases" and tend to follow a "continuum" distribution, rather than a categorical one They tend to be more frequent in cases diagnosed as neurotic or reactive, rather than in the endogenous ones and to correlate with neuroticism measured by the EPQ-A. Particularly among out-patients, where the psychopathology seemed to be related to the absence of demonstrable somatic illness and probably to the presence of social distress, the hypothesis could be advanced that obsessive symptoms, among other psychopathological phenomena, are quantitative reactions to environmental situations in predisposed individuals. Nevertheless, in samples such as the endocrine in-patients, correlations have also been demonstrated between obsessive or other psychopathological symptoms and biological deviations such as hormonal levels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Endocrine System Diseases↗