The Puzzle of Neuroimaging and Psychiatric Diagnosis: Technology and Nosology in an Evolving Discipline.

The Puzzle of Neuroimaging and Psychiatric Diagnosis: Technology and Nosology in an Evolving Discipline.

AJOB Neurosci. 2012 Oct 1; 3(4): 31-41
Farah MJ, Gillihan SJ

Brain imaging provides ever more sensitive measures of structure and function relevant to human psychology and has revealed correlates for virtually every psychiatric disorder. Yet it plays no accepted role in psychiatric diagnosis beyond ruling out medical factors such as tumors or traumatic brain injuries. Why is brain imaging not used in the diagnosis of primary psychiatric disorders, such as depression, bipolar disease, schizophrenia, and ADHD? The present article addresses this question. It reviews the state of the art in psychiatric imaging, including diagnostic and other applications, and explains the nonutility of diagnostic imaging in terms of aspects of both the current state of imaging and the current nature of psychiatric nosology. The likely future path by which imaging-based diagnoses will be incorporated into psychiatry is also discussed. By reviewing one well-known attempt to use SPECT-scanning in psychiatric diagnosis, the article examines a real-world practice that illustrates several related points: the appeal of the idea of image-assisted diagnosis for physicians, patients and families, despite a lack of proven effectiveness, and the mismatch between the categories and dimensions of current nosology and those suggested by imaging. HubMed – depression

24 Hour ST Segment Analysis in Transient Left Ventricular Apical Ballooning.

PLoS One. 2013; 8(3): e58349
Bode F, Burgdorf C, Schunkert H, Kurowski V

The etiologic basis of transient left ventricular apical ballooning, a novel cardiac syndrome, is not clear. Among the proposed pathomechanisms is coronary vasospasm. Long-term ST segment analysis may detect vasospastic episodes but has not been reported.30 consecutive patients with transient left ventricular apical ballooning, left ventricular dysfunction and normal or near-normal coronary arteries were investigated. A 24-hour Holter ECG was obtained after emergency admission. ST segment analysis was performed automatically in 2 leads and confirmed by visual inspection. Criteria for an ischemic event were: 1. ST elevation or 2. horizontal or down-sloping ST segments ?1 min duration and ?100 µV J+80 point deviation corrected for baseline ST-deviation.Patients presented with ST segment elevation (n?=?19) and/or T wave inversion (n?=?20) on admission ECG. Ejection fraction was 50±12%. No transient ST elevations were observed during Holter ECG analysis. In 3 patients, 8 transient episodes of ST depression were recorded. Durations of episodes varied between 75s and 790s (mean 229s). Maximal ST deviation averaged -191±71 µV. Ischemic burden was -1 to -22 mVs (mean -8 mVs). 27 patients showed no ischemic events.ST segment analysis of 24 h Holter recordings revealed minor ischemic events in only 10% of patients with transient left ventricular apical ballooning. Overall, ST segment changes were not indicative of recurrent coronary spasm playing a major role in the genesis of transient left ventricular apical ballooning. HubMed – depression

Validation of the “World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule for Children, WHODAS-Child” in Rwanda.

PLoS One. 2013; 8(3): e57725
Scorza P, Stevenson A, Canino G, Mushashi C, Kanyanganzi F, Munyanah M, Betancourt T

The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule for children (WHODAS-Child) is a disability assessment instrument based on the WHO’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health for children and youth. It is modified from the original adult version specifically for use with children. The aim of this study was to assess the WHODAS-Child structure and metric properties in a community sample of children with and without reported psychosocial problems in rural Rwanda.The WHODAS-Child was first translated into Kinyarwanda through a detailed committee translation process and back-translation. Cognitive interviewing was used to assess the comprehension of the translated items. Test-retest reliability was assessed in a group of 64 children. The translated WHODAS-Child was then administered to a final sample of 367 children in southern Kayonza district in rural southeastern Rwanda within a larger psychosocial assessment battery. The latent structure was assessed through confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was evaluated in terms of internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha) and test-retest reliability (Pearson’s correlation coefficient). Construct validity was explored by examining convergence between WHODAS-Child scores and mental disorder status, and divergence of WHODAS-Child scores with protective factors and prosocial behaviors. Concordance between parent and child scores was also assessed.The six-factor structure of the WHODAS-Child was confirmed in a population sample of Rwandan children. Test-retest and inter-rater reliability were high (r?=?.83 and ICC?=?.88). WHODAS-Child scores were moderately positively correlated with presence of depression (r?=?.42, p<.001) and post-traumatic stress disorder (r?=?.31, p<.001) and moderately negatively correlated with prosocial behaviors (r?=?.47, p<.001). The Kinyarwanda version of the WHODAS-Child was found to be a reliable and acceptable self-report tool for assessment of functional impairment among children largely referred for psychosocial problems in the study district in rural Rwanda. Further research in low-resource settings and with more general populations is recommended. HubMed – depression

ADCYAP1R1 genotype associates with post-traumatic stress symptoms in highly traumatized African-American females.

Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet. 2013 Mar 15;
Almli LM, Mercer KB, Kerley K, Feng H, Bradley B, Conneely KN, Ressler KJ

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) and its receptor (PAC1) play a critical role in biological processes that mediate stress response and have been implicated in psychological outcome following trauma. Our previous work [Ressler et al. (2011); Nature 470:492-497] demonstrated that a variant, rs2267735, in the gene encoding PAC1 (ADCYAP1R1) is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a primarily African-American cohort of highly traumatized females. We sought to extend and replicate our previous finding in a similarly trauma-exposed, replicate sample of 1,160 African-American adult male and female patients. Self-reported psychiatric measures were collected, and DNA was obtained for genetic analysis. Using linear regression models to test for association with PTSD symptom severity under an additive (allelic) model, we found a genotype?×?trauma interaction in females (P??0.1); however, there was no main effect of genotype as in our previous study. The observed interaction suggests a genetic association that increases with the degree of trauma exposure in females only. This interaction remained significant in females, but not males, after controlling for age (P??0.1), demonstrating the relative specificity of this variant for PTSD symptoms. A meta-analysis with the previously reported African-American samples revealed a strong association between PTSD symptom severity and the interaction between trauma and genotype in females (N?=?1424, P?HubMed – depression

Does awareness of terminal status influence survival and quality of life in terminally ill cancer patients?

Psychooncology. 2013 Mar 15;
Kim SY, Kim JM, Kim SW, Shin IS, Bae KY, Shim HJ, Hwang JE, Bae WK, Cho SH, Chung IJ, Yoon JS

BACKGROUND: Clinical studies, with a proper scientific design, on the impact of disclosing a prognosis on a patient’s psychological or physical conditions are rare. We investigated the effect of patient awareness of terminal status on survival and quality of life (QoL) in a palliative care setting. METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study of patients with terminal cancer. Patients with cancer at a palliative care unit were enrolled consecutively. The patients’ awareness of their terminal status was determined using a semistructured interview. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, including Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, depressed mood, and QoL, were investigated. To determine the independent effects of awareness of illness on survival and QoL, multivariate Cox proportional-hazards regression and multivariate linear regression were used, respectively. RESULTS: For the 262 cases analyzed, the median survival time (interquartile range) was 28.5 (15.8-55.3)?days, and 76 (29.0%) patients were unaware of their prognosis. Patients who were aware survived for a shorter period than did those who were unaware (HR, 1.44; 95% CI, 1.07-1.93, p?=?0.015) after adjusting for clinical variables including physical status and depression. Also, patients who were aware reported lower subjective QoL compared with patients who were unaware in a multivariate linear regression analysis (B, -0.10; 95% CI, -0.17 to -0.03, p?=?0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Awareness of prognosis may negatively impact survival and QoL in terminally ill cancer patients. Therefore, the patient’s preference for and individual susceptibility to receiving such information should be assessed carefully before disclosure. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. HubMed – depression