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W Maier

Publications and source records attributed to W Maier.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Evidence against linkage of schizophrenia to chromosome 5q11-q13 markers in systematically ascertained families.

Ten pedigrees systematically ascertained in Germany were tested for linkage to chromosome 5q11-q13. In order to replicate the previous report by Sherrington et al (1988), families with a bipolar family member were omitted from the lod score calculations, all diagnoses were based upon Research Diagnostic Criteria, and four different models of the affection status were calculated, including the model for which Sherrington et al calculated the highest lod scores. None of the families investigated showed a positive lod score. Using multipoint linkage analyses, we were able to exclude the region for which a positive linkage has been reported.

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 5↗
PubMed1992

The risk of minor depression in families of probands with major depression: sex differences and familiality.

Currently it is not clear whether minor forms of unipolar depression not matching the criteria of "major depression" should be considered as a separate diagnostic category. A controlled family study examined the familial aggregation of minor depression among probands with unipolar major depression. In the families of these probands the relative risk for minor depression was elevated by a similar magnitude to the risk for major depression. Therefore, the diagnostic category "minor depression" would not increase diagnostic sensitivity at the expense of diagnostic specificity as far as familiality is the criterion. In agreement with recent epidemiological studies, minor depression did not reveal a similar excess prevalence in females compared with males as major depression does. The variation of the sex ratio for any subtype of unipolar depression was not associated with the familiality of this disorder.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Differentiation between major and minor depression.

Though the concept of Major Depression was generated by clinicians using depressed inpatients as models, a polydiagnostic study in 600 psychiatric inpatients with heterogenous psychological disturbances revealed that all six competing operational definitions of Major Depression (including DSM-III-R and ICD-10) were too restrictive to serve as a general concept of depression. Another polydiagnostic study in 500 primary care outpatients showed that more than two-thirds of all non-chronic depressed cases were below the severity threshold of Major Depression: these patients are classified as Depression Not Otherwise Specified (NOS) by DSM-III-R. Loosening of the over-restrictive time criteria would broaden the concept of Major Depression so as to meet the requirements of a general concept of depression, while the definition of Minor Depression below the threshold of Major Depression would add to a reduction of cases of NOS Depression by more than 80%. For the evaluation of antidepressant drugs in outpatient samples, we propose that patients with these modified definitions of Major and Minor Depression be included, provided they meet a minimum severity criterion of 13 or more points on the Hamilton Depression Scale; four-fifths of the modified Major Depression group and one-third of the Minor Depression group do in fact meet this criterion.

Depression↗
PubMed1992

Depression in the community: a comparison of treated and non-treated cases in two non-referred samples.

Family studies in non-patient samples may help to clarify whether or not treatment-seeking behaviour is substantially determined by clinical features of depression. Life-time risks of depression were investigated by structured clinical interviews (SADS-LA) in both a high-risk sample of depressed patients' first-degree relatives and an unscreened control sample of the general population: 34.6% of the high-risk sample versus 23.1% of controls were cases of depression, with a female preponderance in both groups. The rates of treated depression were 17.0% versus 8.5%. Female sex, greater age, higher severity of episodes, manic or hypomanic episodes recurrent course, and introverted and anancastic personality were factors increasing the rate of treated cases in both samples, as well as familial loading with treated depression. Late onset and chronicity of depression did not significantly affect these proportions, but controlling for the effects of retrospective assessment by focusing only on depression within the past year confirmed the results. However, the major finding of a familial influence in treatment-seeking behaviour might be due to a personality factor running in families, as well as to a sharing of common environmental factors.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The familial relation of personality disorders (DSM-II-R) to unipolar major depression.

Four hundred and fifty directly interviewed relatives of probands with non-psychotic unipolar major depression and 320 directly interviewed relatives of controls were compared by the prevalences of personality disorders (P.D.) as defined by DSM-III-R, in relation to presence or absence of the relatives' affective disorder. Overall, there was only a trend for an increased risk for P.D. in relatives of depressed patients. However, P.D. and unipolar major depression co-occurred more frequently in relatives than expected by chance. It is suggested that this association is mainly due to non-familial factors. Compared with other P.D., the relationship of borderline P.D. to major depression was not substantially stronger.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Personality traits in subjects at risk for unipolar major depression: a family study perspective.

Particular patterns of personality (e.g., introversion, neuroticism, obsessionality) have been found to be associated with unipolar depression by a large number of investigators; recent prospective studies have stressed neuroticism as a premorbid risk factor for depression. This study examines whether similar patterns of personality are found in relatives of affective disorder patients and of controls. First-degree relatives of normal controls and of subjects with primary unipolar depression were studied using the Munich Personality Test. Relatives in remission from an episode of unipolar depression had clearly higher levels of neuroticism and rigidity and lower levels of extraversion than controls; healthy relatives of controls had higher levels of rigidity (both sexes) and of neuroticism (males only) than controls. It is proposed that these traits are either risk factors for depression or attenuated forms of depression.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Neuropsychological indicators of the vulnerability to schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is associated with enduring deficits in neuropsychological functioning. It is widely undecided if the various aspects of neuropsychological impairment are a consequence of the disorder or if they are also present premorbidly and in populations at increased risk for schizophrenia (vulnerability markers). Neuropsychological deficits in healthy relatives of schizophrenic patients who are at an elevated risk for schizophrenia and who did not yet pass the period of risk would indicate that these deficits are vulnerability markers. This hypothesis was tested for three neuropsychological paradigms which have been proven to distinguish schizophrenic patients from controls. 33 siblings of drug-free schizophrenic probands revealed deficits has compared to 33 matched healthy controls in a blurred single target version of the Continuous Performance Test and in a multiple item version of the Span of Apprehension Test but not so in less difficult versions of both tests or in the time needed to react to stimuli with shifting modality.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: an indicator of vulnerability to schizophrenia?

The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) is a neuropsychological test, hypothesized to be an indicator of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) functioning. The performance of schizophrenic patients in our sample (off medication) was worse than the performance of healthy controls in all variables of the WCST, including perseverative responses (PR) as well as non-perseverative responses (NPR). The rate of perseverative and non-perseverative responses was neither a function of the severity of the illness (measured by SANS/SAPS scales) nor the duration of the disease. Healthy siblings of schizophrenic probands revealed more perseverative responses than healthy controls, but did not show any difference with respect to the non-perseverative responses. This finding suggests that the difficulty to shift a cognitive set, reflected by the frequency of perseverative responses, is in favor of the WCST as a vulnerability marker for schizophrenia, whereas non-perseverative responses presumably indicate a state, but not a trait marker of the disease. However, the usefulness of this indicator may be limited by its association with age, which is worthy of being studied in closer detail.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Risperidone in the treatment of disorders with a combined psychotic and depressive syndrome--a functional approach.

In vitro receptor-binding profiles and in vivo pharmacological studies have shown risperidone to be a potent mixed serotonin-S2 dopamine-D2-like receptor antagonist. While anti-D2 activity may relate to the antipsychotic potency of neuroleptic drugs, an antidepressive efficacy of substances with anti-S2 activity has been suggested. In an open pilot-study, ten patients with schizodepressive disorders or a DSM-III-R diagnosis of psychotic major depressive episodes were treated with risperidone (2-10 mg/d) for six weeks. Weekly psychopathological evaluation was performed, including BPRS, SANS, SAPS, VAS scales, and AIMS and UKU for the assessment of side-effects. Generally, the psychotic syndrome (BPRS, SANS and SAPS) decreased markedly in all patients; seven patients also showed a clinically significant improvement of depressive symptoms (BPRS). Except for two patients who needed biperiden because of extrapyramidal side-effects, the tolerance of risperidone was good. The antipsychotic and antidepressive properties of risperidone shown in our pilot study are promising enough to merit full double-blind controlled trials for further evaluation of its therapeutic value in this broad spectrum of psychiatric disorders.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Laryngeal cancer following gunshot injury and paraffin injection].

Subcutaneous and submucosal injections of paraffin were a wide-spread technique in plastic and reconstructive surgery during the early decades of this century. Intralaryngeal injections were applied to patients suffering from paralysis of one vocal cord or a defect resulting from perforating trauma, intending improvement of the voice. This method was widely abandoned within the fifties when severe complications like foreign-body granuloma and carcinoma developed in patients undergoing paraffin injections. The development of cancer after a trauma is a common question in expert reports. We report the case of a patient who developed carcinoma of the vocal cord 49 years after perforation of the larynx by a shot with consecutive injection of paraffin. The relationship between trauma, injections of paraffin and cancer is discussed and consequences on diagnostics and treatment of risk patients are outlined.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

[Perioperative single dose prevention with cephalosporins in the ENT area. A prospective randomized study].

Perioperative systemic antibiotic cover is usually recommended in major head and neck surgery with the aim of preventing postoperative wound infection. The surgeon must administer the drug most suitable for the particular operation and patient at an adequate dosage and over an adequate period. On the other hand, he has an obligation to minimize costs and find ways of avoiding the development of bacterial resistance to the antibiotic. This means that prophylactic antibiotics may not have too broad an antibacterial spectrum and may only be used over the short term. In an attempt to improve antibiotic prophylactic in head and neck surgery, we tested the effectiveness of a perioperative single-dose antibiotic cover with cefuroxim (Zinacef) in patients undergoing parotidectomy, sinus surgery or neck dissection with no transcutaneous exploration of the pharynx. This single-shot prophylaxis was compared with a three-shot, 24-hour regimen using the same antibiotic. The two regimens were equally effective in preventing wound infection and no case of infection was observed among the 106 patients involved. Preoperative concentrations of cefuroxim were measured in serum and tissue, and the large majority of specimens showed effective concentrations against the typical wound infection bacteria. In conclusion, a perioperative single-dose administration of cefuroxim proved to be suitable prophylaxis against postoperative wound infection in head and neck surgery.

Cefuroxime↗
PubMed1992

Schizoaffective disorder and affective disorders with mood-incongruent psychotic features: keep separate or combine? Evidence from a family study.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether the distinction between schizoaffective disorder and affective disorders with mood-incongruent psychotic features as described in DSM-III-R is reflected by aggregation of schizophrenia in the families of probands with the former disorder and aggregation of affective disorders mainly among the relatives of probands with the latter type of disorders. METHOD: The probands were 118 inpatients with definite lifetime diagnoses of DSM-III-R schizoaffective disorder or a major mood disorder with incongruent psychotic features according to structured clinical interviews. Diagnostic information on 475 of the probands' first-degree relatives was gathered through direct interviews (with 80% of the living first-degree relatives) or the family history approach. The rates of affective and psychotic disorders among these relatives were then compared with those among the relatives of a comparison group of 109 interviewed individuals from the general population who were matched on sociodemographic factors to the inpatient probands. RESULTS: With regard to the familial aggregation of schizophrenia, the DSM-III-R distinction emerged as valid. However, the risk of unipolar affective disorders was enhanced in the families of all of the subgroups of patients studied. The unipolar/bipolar distinction in both DSM-III-R diagnostic groups was reflected by distinct patterns of bipolar disorders in the relatives. CONCLUSIONS: The results partly support the DSM-III-R dichotomy of schizoaffective disorder and affective disorders with mood-incongruent psychotic features. Although the differences between these two diagnostic groups were significant, the magnitude of the differences remained relatively modest.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

The Hamilton scales and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist (SCL-90). A cross-national validity study in patients with panic disorders.

The HRSD, HRSA, SCL-90 scales were psychometrically investigated in a cross-national sample of patients with varieties of non-psychotic symptoms of anxiety and depression. Across the cultural backgrounds the scores obtained from the original versions of these scales are not sufficient statistics. However, latent structure analysis has identified homogeneous subscales for depression (the HRSD) and for discomfort (an SCL subscale). High concurrent validity was found between the subscales of depression, anxiety and discomfort. In international research, inhomogeneity among scale items can be confounded with group differences which are usually ascribed to drug differences.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

[Radiation exposure during defecography].

The introduction of a new radiological method requires the assessment of the advantage-risk ratio. On measuring the radiation doses during defecography, skin entrance and gonadal exposure values were found to be lower than during well-known and well-established examinations of the small pelvis, such as colon enema and CT of the lower abdomen. Defecography, as a radiological tool for diagnosing the anorectal function is, therefore, also suitable for young persons.

Defecation↗
PubMed1979

Regeneration of the goldfish retina after exposure to different doses of ouabain.

After ouabain-induced degeneration, the retina of the goldfish shows a remarkable regeneration capacity. The extent of the damage depends on the dose of ouabain used in the experiment. After intraocular injection of 7 microliter 10(-5) M ouabain, the ganglion cells and the cells of the inner nuclear layer (INL) become necrotic except for most of the outer horizontal cells, some bipolar cells, and Müller cells. The outer nuclear layer (ONL) and the marginal growth zone at the ora serrata remain intact; the plexiform layers become spongy. The degenerated material is removed by the proliferated reactive macroglial cells and invading macrophages. The degenerated cellular elements of the retina are replaced by mitosis of neuroblasts in the marginal growth zone and of cells in the ONL. After intraocular injection of a 5-fold higher dose of ouabain (7 microliter 5 . 10(-5) M), the degeneration of the retina proceeds more rapidly and completely. In this experiment, the ONL is destroyed and the receptor outer segments are phagocytosed by cells of the pigment epithelium. In contrast to the regeneration of the amphibian retina, in the goldfish cells of the pigment epithelium do not participate by metaplastic transformation in the regeneration of the retina. The only source of cellular regeneration of the retina after complete destruction of its differentiated neural elements is the marginal growth zone, which is highly resistant to ouabain. The rate of mitoses in this region is strongly increased. The derivatives of these cells spread out tangentially over the entire fundus of the eye in a concentric manner. In this regenerate, mitotic processes continue in a radial direction, resulting in thickening and layering of the new retinal formation.

Animals↗