Biomedical subjects
R Matte
Publications and source records attributed to R Matte.
The foundations of effective management of bipolar disorder.
OBJECTIVES: To understand the epidemiology and course of bipolar disorder; to outline the importance of accurate and reliable diagnosis of bipolar disorder both on a cross-sectional and longitudinal basis; and to emphasize the value of a collaborative therapeutic relationship, psychoeducation, and psychotherapy. METHODS: A brief review of relevant literature to deal with the issues of diagnosis and laying the foundations for effective treatment. RESULTS: Bipolar disorder may well be a heterogeneous group of conditions with varying forms of biphasic mood dysregulation and a changing course across a lifetime. A collaborative therapeutic relationship, psychoeducation, and psychotherapy can be the basis for effective management. CONCLUSIONS: As the concept of bipolar disorder has broadened, the condition is being identified with increasing frequency in many clinical settings. It is a relapsing and recurring condition. It is now recognized that in addition to rational pharmacotherapy, there is a need to encourage a high level of treatment adherence while providing a holistic package of interventions.
Psychosocial interventions as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy in bipolar disorder.
OBJECTIVE: To summarize the evidence and make treatment recommendations regarding the use of psychosocial interventions as an adjunct to pharmacotherapy for bipolar disorder. METHODS: We reviewed published outcome studies since 1975 identified in MEDLINE and PsychLIT searches. RESULTS: Available studies are initial and of highly variable methodological rigour. Evidence is most robust for the efficacy of psychoeducation and family therapy, and these received the highest level of recommendation as interventions. Group therapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy, and behavioural family management therapy are supported by weaker evidence and received a lower-level treatment recommendation. Availability of only a single interpersonal and social rhythms therapy trial limited the confidence of the recommendation for this intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Controlled trials are needed to replicate early outcome studies and guide treatment recommendations. Accumulated evidence of favourable psychosocial intervention outcomes supports, with variable confidence, their use as adjuncts to pharmacotherapy in the treatment of bipolar disorder.
Treatment of mania, mixed state, and rapid cycling.
OBJECTIVES: To summarize the quality of evidence for the efficacy of different biological treatments in mania, mixed state, and rapid cycling and to propose guidelines for treatment of these conditions. METHOD: Articles published on treatment of acute mania, mixed states, and rapid cycling were reviewed and rated for quality of evidence using Periodic Health Examination guidelines. RESULTS: Lithium and divalproex sodium are effective in classical pure mania, whereas divalproex sodium and carbamazepine are likely more effective in mixed states. Divalproex sodium is likely more efficacious than carbamazepine and lithium when the mania is part of a rapid-cycling course. Typical neuroleptics are efficacious in acute mania, particularly in the presence of marked psychotic symptoms. Atypical neuroleptics can be useful in refractory mania. Some benzodiazepines do have antimanic effects, but they are increasingly being shown to have usefulness as adjuncts to mood stabilizers or neuroleptics rather than as primary antimanic agents. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an efficacious and broad-spectrum treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Mania can present with or without mood-congruent or mood-incongruent psychotic features and as part of a rapid-cycling or nonrapid-cycling course. Mixed state is a common presentation in an acutely manic patient. The accurate assessment of these issues can serve as a guide in determining treatment options and choices.
Bipolar depression: treatment options.
OBJECTIVE: To review studies on treatments for bipolar depression and make recommendations for practising clinicians treating patients with bipolar depression. METHOD: Studies that examined various treatments for bipolar depression were evaluated and rated for evidence of efficacy using Periodic Health Examination criteria. The rating for classification of recommendation for an intervention was made taking both the efficacy and the side effects into consideration. RESULTS: Mood stabilizers, cyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are all effective in treating bipolar depression. Almost all antidepressant treatments with the exception of mood stabilizers have been reported to induce a manic-hypomanic switch and rapid cycling. CONCLUSIONS: Mood stabilizers, lithium in particular, are recommended as the first-line treatment. Addition of a second mood stabilizer or a cyclic antidepressant would be an appropriate next step. Newer agents such as lamotrigine offer considerable promise in treating bipolar depressed patients.
Continuation and prophylactic treatment of bipolar disorder.
OBJECTIVES: To summarize the evidence for efficacy from published literature of biological treatments in the continuation and maintenance phases of bipolar disorder, as well as the recommendations about different treatment options made by the working group within the Bipolar Sub-Committee of the Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT). METHODS: A review of relevant published literature and proceedings of international conferences was conducted. The quality of evidence was assessed and classified according to the Periodic Health Examination criteria. Treatment recommendations of the working group were based on quality of evidence, a consensus of expert views, and the opinions of psychiatrists and family physicians from across Canada. RESULTS: There is overwhelming evidence for the efficacy of lithium in the prophylaxis of bipolar disorder. The evidence for carbamazepine is less robust. There are no published double-blind studies with adequate numbers of subjects treated with divalproex sodium. CONCLUSIONS: During and at the end of the continuation phase it is recommended that mood stabilizers should remain the mainstay of therapy and that other treatments should be gradually discontinued or maintained only if there is valid reason to do so. Efficacious maintenance treatment can reduce morbidity and mortality significantly and improve patients' quality of life.
[Diagnosis of differentiated thyroid cancers].
Thyroid nodule is a frequent clinical problem. Since the majority of these are benign, it is important to identify the cancers among them and at the same time avoid surgery in most. Fine needle aspiration biopsy is a direct method, reliable and without risk. Today this technique constitute the first step in evaluation of a thyroid nodule. If done properly, it will have a false negative rate of 1 to 2%. In few cases the diagnosis will remain uncertain even after the needle biopsy. In these cases thyroid scan and clinical criteria will be helpful to reach a therapeutic decision.
Blood glucose measurements during symptomatic episodes in patients with suspected postprandial hypoglycemia.
Postprandial (reactive) hypoglycemia is a controversial disorder because its symptoms are not specific, the presence of symptoms often correlates weakly with blood glucose concentrations measured after oral glucose administration, and glucose levels have rarely been measured when symptoms have developed spontaneously. In this study, we measured blood glucose in 28 patients with suspected postprandial hypoglycemia while they were experiencing their typical symptoms, in capillary blood collected on filter paper. Five patients (18 percent) had symptoms of "hypoglycemia" that were associated with blood glucose levels of 2.8 mmol per liter (50 mg per deciliter) or less, and eight other patients (29 percent) had symptoms associated with glucose levels of 2.9 to 3.3 mmol per liter on at least one occasion. Six (5 percent) of 132 reported symptomatic episodes that were associated with blood glucose levels of 2.8 mmol per liter or less, and 16 (12 percent) with levels of 2.9 to 3.3 mmol per liter. In 140 measurements made in 17 normal subjects, blood glucose levels were never found to be less than 2.8 mmol per liter, and levels of 2.9 to 3.3 mmol per liter were found only twice. No specific symptom was associated with low glucose levels in the patients with suspected hypoglycemia. The relief of symptoms by ingesting food was more often associated with low than with normal blood glucose levels: 86 percent of episodes in which blood glucose values were less than or equal to 3.3 mmol per liter were relieved by eating, as compared with 53 percent of episodes in which values were more than 3.3 mmol per liter (P less than 0.007). No correlation was found between plasma glucose levels measured after oral glucose administration and blood glucose levels measured during symptoms. We conclude that postprandial hypoglycemia is infrequent, even in a referral population, and that recording blood glucose measurements during spontaneously occurring symptomatic episodes is necessary to establish the diagnosis since symptoms are not specific and oral glucose-tolerance testing is not helpful.
Suppression of T4 secretion in a metastatic follicular carcinoma.
Despite total thyroidectomy, a patient with metastatic follicular carcinoma of the thyroid remained biologically euthyroid three months after stopping thyroxine (T4) therapy. Thyroid hormone production was investigated by means of a modified tri-iodothyronine (T3) suppression test, in which serum T4 was used as a suppression marker. After three weeks of oral T3 (Cytomel) therapy (50 micrograms/day), the serum T4 decreased from normal (108 nmol/L) to undetectable values. However, even though suppressive therapy was effective in preventing TSH dependent hormone secretion by the tumor, it did not prevent tumor growth and the eventual death of the patient.
Late increase in serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D one month after surgery for adenomatous hyperparathyroidism.
This study was designed to follow the evolution of serum 1,25(OH)2D after surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism. Ten patients were studied before and for up to 85 d after removal of a single parathyroid adenoma. Blood and 24 h urine were obtained at various time points, for the measurement of serum or urinary phosphate and calcium indices. Before surgery, serum calcium (2.91 +/- 0.06 mmol/l; mean +/- SEM), parathyroid hormone (354 +/- 47 pg/ml) and 1,25(OH)2D (61.2 +/- 7.8 pg/ml) were elevated while serum phosphate (1.01 +/- 0.07 mmol/l) tended to be low. Relative hypoparathyroidism was evident for up to 5 d after surgery with the lowest value for serum parathyroid hormone (41 +/- 16 pg/ml) on day 1, serum calcium (2.12 +/- 0.06 mmol/l) on day 3 and highest value for serum phosphate (1.41 +/- 0.13 mmol/l) on day 5. As expected, serum 1,25(OH)2D levels decreased to 35.9 +/- 4.2 pg/ml 24 h after surgery. Stabilization of serum and urinary parameters to normal values was seen between day 5 and day 27; the only exception was serum 1,25(OH)2D, which increased again at day 27 to 57.6 +/- 5.0 pg/ml, a value as high as that before surgery. It was still elevated at day 50 (58.3 +/- 4.3 pg/ml), but returned towards normal values in three out of four patients (44 +/- 3.9 pg/ml) by day 80. No variation in 25(OH)D or 24,25(OH)2D was seen throughout the study. 1,25(OH)2D values could be related to serum parathyroid hormone values before surgery (r = 0.659, P less than 0.05) but not after. The secondary increase in serum 1,25(OH)2D could not be related to variations in serum calcium, phosphate, parathyroid hormone or diet. Further studies will be required to explain this phenomenon.
Characteristics of patients with normal T3 and T4 and a low TSH response to TRH.
The nature of the thyroid disorder presented by patients with normal T4 and T3 but blunted TSH response to TRH has not been clarified. In this study, we compared thyroid function tests in 16 such patients with those of 14 controls and 10 hyperthyroid patients. Basal total T4, free T4, total T3, iodine uptake and cholesterol of the study group were similar to controls but significantly (P less than 0.001) lower than in hyperthyroid patients, except for cholesterol which was higher. In contrast, the basal TSH, increase in TSH after TRH stimulation, and decrease of T4 during T3 suppression tests were similar to data obtained in hyperthyroid patients but significantly (P less than 0.001) lower than in controls. Pulse rate was mid-way between the control and the hyperthyroid group. Thyroid stimulating antibody (TSAb) was measured with human thyroid cells in culture; the assay was positive in four subjects in the 16-patient group and in all hyperthyroid patients tested. TSH stimulation test showed a hyporesponse in iodine uptake in the four patients with positive TSAb (26 +/- 29%), as well as in hyperthyroid patients (6 + 5%). However, there was a hyper-response to TSH (213 +/- 52%) in the remaining 12 patients in the group, none of whom had TSAb. Thus TSAb is not seen as responsible for the thyroid disorder in the majority of patients with normal T3 and T4 and absent or blunted TSH response to TRH; surprisingly, most of these patients have thyroid hypersensitivity to TSH. These two characteristics, absence of TSAb and hypersensitivity to TSH, delineate a thyroid disorder clearly different from Graves' disease.
Familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia: description of a new kindred with emphasis on its difference from primary hyperparathyroidism.
In order to better understand the difference between familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FHH) and primary hyperparathyroidism (PHP), 4 adults with this disease (FHH(+], from the same kindred, and spanning 2 generations, were compared with 6 patients with PHP, 10 normal controls (N) and 3 unaffected members of the same kindred (FHH(-]. Clinically speaking, the FHH(+) patients were asymptomatic while those with PHP had recurring renal stones. Various phosphocalcic balance elements were measured in blood and urine, in a fasting state, following oral loading of 1 g calcium, as well as in 24-hour urine specimens. Serum calcium levels were slightly higher (11.90 +/- .14 vs 11.37 +/- .24 mg/dl; p less than .05), in patients with FHH(+), but serum phosphorus (2.47 +/- .38 vs 2.88 +/- .40 mg/dl), serum parathyroid hormone (301 +/- 147 vs 291 +/- 224 pg/ml) and serum 1,25(OH)2D (52.8 +/- 6.7 vs 55.0 +/- 12.0 pg/ml) values were similar to those observed in patients with PHP. Urinary calcium present in FHH(+), while fasting (.064 +/- .043 mg/100 ml G.F.), after the calcium loading (.150 +/- .071) and in the 24-hour specimen (.089 +/- .016), was below the 95% confidence limit of values obtained in patients with PHP (.225 +/- .026, p less than .001; .413 +/- .066, p less than .001; 314 +/- .080, p less than .001), but similar to those obtained in N and FHH(-).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
[Localization of insulinomas: the value of determining insulin using transhepatic catheterization of the pancreatic venous network].
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[Value of the oral calcium loading test in the diagnosis of primary hyperparathyroidism].
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[Cryptococcosis and adrenal insufficiency].
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[Spironolactone in idiopathic hirsutism, clinical and biological evaluation of treatment].
Ten midly hirsute women with normal serum levels of testosterone were treated with spironolactone (100 mg die), and the effectiveness of this dose-schedule regimen was evaluated after six months of therapy. Hirsutism subsided partly in all women. We estimated however, that in 6 of the 10 women, the clinical benefit was out weighed by the side effects and other drawbacks of a long term therapy and their medication was then stopped 6 months after its initiation. The changes induced on the pituitary function were evaluated by measuring basal serum T3 T4 and basal and stimulated (TRH-LHRH) TSH, PRL, FSH and LH, prior to and after one month of therapy. Spironolactone induced a greater response of TSH to TRH (p less than .025) but no change in T3 T4, PRL, FSH and LH. These data suggest that changes in TSH response are not explained by the speculated intrinsic oestrogenic activity of spironolactone but rather by a selective interaction with TSH secreting cells. We conclude that spironolactone therapy should not be recommended for the large category of normal women complaining of slight increase of facial hair.
[Glycosylated hemoglobin and the evaluation of control in ambulatory diabetic patients].
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[Diagnostic methods in thyroid cancer].
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