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R T Ramos

Publications and source records attributed to R T Ramos.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Obsessive-compulsive symptoms in adults with history of rheumatic fever, Sydenham's chorea and type I diabetes mellitus: preliminary results.

OBJECTIVE: Rheumatic fever (RF) associated with Sydenham's chorea (a neurological variant of RF), but not RF without chorea, has been acutely related to obsessive-compulsive symptomatology/disorder (OCS/OCD). This study investigated the presence of OCS in adults who had RF with or without chorea in childhood. METHOD: The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) was used to evaluate OCS in 38 adults with history of RF (13 with chorea; 25 without chorea) or diabetes (controls; n = 19). RESULTS: The OCS was similar in both groups, although the intensity of symptoms was not clinically relevant. Moreover, subjects with RF with or without chorea did not score differently in the Y-BOCS. CONCLUSION: The similar occurrence of OCS in patients with history of RF and diabetes suggests that the development of this symptomatology, triggered by group A beta-haemolytic streptococcus infections, is restricted to the RF acute phase, occurred during infancy, and did not seem to predispose the appearance of OCS in adulthood.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

A dose-finding and discontinuation study of clomipramine in panic disorder.

Eighty-one panic disorder patients with or without agoraphobia were treated with flexible doses of clomipramine under single-blind conditions. Fifty-seven (70.3%) reached operational criteria for full remission in 16.2 +/- 6.5 weeks, with a mean dose of 89.1 +/- 8.2 mg/day. Fifty-four (81%) of them received a continuous post-remission maintenance treatment at full doses of clomipramine for 4-6 months. No patient relapsed during the clomipramine maintenance phase. Their medication was then tappered and discontinued with placebo substitution under double-blind conditions. Fifty-one (63%) patients were followed-up until relapse or recurrence for up to 3 years, with periodic assessments. Three different outcome groups were identified: the first (n = 19, 19; 37.2%) experienced an early/immediate relapse (5.2 +/- 4.9 weeks after drug discontinuation); the second group (n = 22, 22; 43.1%) experienced recurrence after 42.9 +/- 35 weeks following discontinuation; and the third group (n = 10, 10; 19.6%) remained assymptomatic and functionally well throughout the follow-up. Predictors of early relapse were: (1) higher baseline score in the Beck Depression Inventory; (2) higher global score on the phobic avoidance scale after the full remission criteria; and (3) the need for higher clomipramine doses to reach full remission. The need for long-term or intermittent maintenance for most patients is emphasized.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Zipf's law organizes a psychiatric ward.

We developed a simple mathematical model based on power law fitting for describing the interactions among patients from a psychiatric ward. First we defined a protocol in order to evaluate in a quantative way the state of the patient, measuring sociability/restlessness through a daily analysis of the behavior and attributing a grade for both parameters, per patient. The grades were checked by two different specialists and a table of incidence was constructed. This table generated power laws for the grades and their variations. We concluded that power laws, like Zipf's law, may be good to explain the data, showing a self-organizing process that indicates a strong interaction component determining the whole behavior. We would like to see more data being collected, in other centers and among normal populations, trying to quantify complex collective behavioral phenomena using self-organizing criticality laws.

Humans↗
PubMed1999

Case series: increased vulnerability to obsessive-compulsive symptoms with repeated episodes of Sydenham chorea.

The association between obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and Sydenham chorea (SC) supports the hypothesis of a common neuroimmunological dysfunction in basal ganglia associated with group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection underlying both conditions. Four children with 2 distinct SC episodes were evaluated to assess the course of OCS. All patients developed OCS during their second episodes (3 met criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder [OCD]), but not in their first episodes (2 developed OCS and met criteria for OCD). These data suggest that the recurrence of SC episodes may result in a cumulative effect, thus increasing the risk of appearance and intensification of OCS.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1999

Serum levels of clomipramine and desmethylclomipramine and clinical improvement in panic disorder.

Several placebo-controlled trials have shown the efficacy of clomipramine (CMI) in panic disorder. However, none has investigated the relationship between CMI, and desmethylclomipramine (DCMI) plasma levels, and outcome. In this trial, 41 patients meeting the DSM-III-R criteria for panic disorder with/without agoraphobia received 50-200 mg of CMI daily in a single-blind, flexible dose regimen for 14 weeks. At the end of treatment, 97% of the patients were free of panic attacks. Patients were classified into two groups of improvement according to the panic symptom items of the 'Patient-Rated Anxiety Scale'. A repeated-measures analysis of variance suggested a significant association between outcome and serum DCMI level/daily dose ratio as well as total serum level/daily dose. Patients with intense improvement showed DCMI and total serum levels lower than those with moderate improvement. The results indicate the importance of monitoring clomipramine and desmethylclomipramine serum levels in this disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Hormonal response during a fenfluramine-associated panic attack.

Secretion curves for prolactin, cortisol, TSH, and GH from a 37-year old woman with dysthymia and panic disorder with agoraphobia were determined one day prior to (day I), and during a panic attack (day II) associated with an oral dose of 60 mg dl-fenfluramine, a drug known to increase anticipatory anxiety. The increased cortisol secretion observed is discussed in relation to the hormonal correlates of anxiety and the possible role of depression, dl-fenfluramine, and serotonergic receptor sensitivity.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Electroencephalographic study of patients with panic disorders].

Electroencephalographic changes were studied in 27 patients with panic disorder and agoraphobia with panic attacks due to some clinical similarities between panic disorder and temporal lobe epilepsy. The EEG records, obtained with sleep deprivation, photostimulation and hyperventilation showed no abnormalities.

Adult↗