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R Schwan

Publications and source records attributed to R Schwan.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Patients admitted to emergency services for drunkenness: moderate alcohol users or harmful drinkers?

OBJECTIVE: Most of the patients admitted to hospital emergency services are drunk. Some of them may need specific treatment after acute intoxication remits. At present, treatment for alcoholism is offered to less than 5% of these patients. The authors evaluated the biological markers carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT) and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) in patients admitted for acute alcohol intoxication (per DSM-IV criteria) supported by blood alcohol assay. These tests distinguished between otherwise moderate alcohol users who were acutely intoxicated and harmful drinkers or alcohol-dependent patients. METHOD: The authors conducted an exhaustive survey 24 hours a day during 2 nonconsecutive months. The study involved 166 patients (124 men and 42 women) who were admitted for acute alcohol intoxication as a principal or additional diagnosis. Their blood was analyzed for alcohol, GGT, and CDT levels. The CAGE questionnaire was administered, and social and demographic data were collected. RESULTS: About 80% of the population studied displayed elevated GGT or CDT levels (65.7% had CDT levels >60 mg/liter; 41.6% had GGT levels >65 IU/liter). Less than 10% of the patients with acute alcohol intoxication revealed results in the normal range for both markers and a negative finding on the CAGE questionnaire. CONCLUSIONS: Patients admitted to emergency services with high blood alcohol levels should not be assumed to be moderate drinkers. Any drunkenness should be interpreted as a sign of likely harmful alcohol consumption or alcohol dependency requiring clinical and biological tests, including GGT and CDT assays. Specific treatment for alcoholism should be systematically offered to these patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2000

Objective diagnosis of alcohol abuse: compared values of carbohydrate-deficient transferrin (CDT), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), and mean corpuscular volume (MCV).

BACKGROUND: Alcohol abuse is roughly twice as common as alcohol dependence. Subjects with alcohol problems are usually diagnosed only when medical complications are present. Therefore, both doctors and patients need a method for early diagnosis of alcohol abuse. METHODS: The mean corpuscular volume, gamma-glutamyl transferase, and carbohydrate-deficient transferrin in alcohol abusers, alcohol-dependent patients, and "nonalcohol hospital" individuals were compared. RESULTS: For objective diagnosis of alcohol abuse, we found a sensitivity of 24%, a specificity of 96%, and a global predictive value of 63% for mean corpuscular volume; a sensitivity of 42%, a specificity of 76%, and a global predictive value of 61% for gamma-glutamyl transferase; and a sensitivity of 67%, a specificity of 97%, and a global predictive value of 84% for carbohydrate-deficient transferrin. CONCLUSIONS: Carbohydrate-deficient transferrin proves to be the best marker of alcohol abuse. It allows objective detection so that therapeutic action can be started early, which is easier and more effective than in alcohol dependence.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Less efficacy with alternating regimen as adjuvant chemotherapy in stage II node-positive breast cancer: results at 8 years (Pronacam 85).

A randomized trial to compare adjuvant treatment with an alternating regimen with conventional chemotherapy was performed. A total of 589 node-positive patients were included and stratified according to number of positive nodes (N1-3 and N > 4) and menopausal status. Premenopausal N1-3 patients were randomized to cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and fluorouracil (CMF) or CMF/4'-epirubicin, cyclophosphamide (EC), post-menopausal N1-3 patients to fluorouracil, 4 epirubicin, cyclophosphamide (FEC) or CMF/EC and pre- and post-menopausal patients with N > or = 4 to fluorouracil, 4' epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, prednisone (FECMP) or CMF/EC. In premenopausal patients, CMF was superior to CMF/EC in terms of disease-free survival (DFS) (65% vs 45%, P = 0.0149) and survival (72.3% vs 50.2%, P = 0.0220) whereas, for N > or = 4 patients, differences between FECMP and CMF/EC did not achieve statistical significance (DFS 35% vs 26.2%; survival 50% vs 38.1%, P = NS). For post-menopausal patients, FEC was superior to CMF/EC in DFS (58.6% vs 36.8%, P = 0.0215) and survival (66.2% vs 46%, P = 0.0155). In post-menopausal patients with N > 4, differences favouring CMF/EC were significant in DFS (40.4% vs 22%, P = 0.0371) but not in survival (47.4% vs 32.2%, P = 0.1185). Alternating regimens did not offer better results in premenopausal and post-menopausal N1-3 patients. Results regarding post-menopausal N > 4 women require further confirmation.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Escitalopram for treatment of major depressive disorder in adults].

Escitalopram is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI); it is the therapeutically active S-enantiomer of the racemic mixture, citalopram. This review aimed to compare the efficacy and tolerability of escitalopram versus citalopram and several other SSRIs (citalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline), and a selective reuptake inhibitor of noradrenaline and serotonin, venlafaxine XR, for treatment of DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders - fourth edition) major depressive disorder, based on the studies evaluated by the Commission de la Transparence de la R6publique Frangaise, and data from a pooled analysis presented in 2005 at the 158th annual congress of the American Psychiatric Association. Change from baseline to end-point on total MADRS (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale--10 items, score range: 0-60) was the primary efficacy parameter; changes on HAM-D17 (Hamilton rating scale for depression--17 items), CGI-S and CGI-I (Clinical global Impression-Severity and-Improvement), and response rates (> or = 50% MADRS score reduction) and remissions (< 12 MADRS score) were the secondary efficacy parameters. Tolerability assessment was based on the numbers and rates of adverse events observed with treatment, and the DESS (Discontinuation Emergent Signs and Symptoms-43 items) scale was used for assessment of adverse events observed with treatment withdrawal. Analyses were based on intention to treat using the LOCF (last observation carried forward) method. Efficacy of escitalopram appeared to be at least equivalent to that of the active comparators in all cases. The difference between active compounds was more marked when depressive symptoms were more severe. From the point of view of tolerability, frequency of adverse effects occurring on treatment and the frequency of treatment discontinuations due to adverse effects were comparable with both escitalopram and the active comparators; however, the comparisons were mostly favourable to escitalopram, though differences were generally not statistically significant. In both studies of escitalopram versus venlafaxine XR, treatment discontinuations due to adverse events were less frequent on escitalopram than on venlafaxine XR (7.5% vs 11.2%, and 4.1% vs 16.0% respectively). With regard to adverse events associated with the withdrawal period, the signs and symptoms occurring on treatment discontinuation assessed after 1 week using the DESS scale were less frequent on escitalopram than on venlafaxine XR at 8 weeks and paroxetine at 24 weeks. Concerning suicide risk, a review of clinical trials involving 2277 patients on escitalopram and 1814 patients on placebo showed that this risk was minimal, and similar in both groups; moreover, no evidence was found suggesting that escitalopram might promote suicidal behaviour compared with placebo. These results suggest that escitalopram is suitable to be considered as a first-line drug treatment for major depressive disorder.

Adult↗