Cannabis-induced psychotic disorder with onset during withdrawal: a brief report of emerging evidence.

OBJECTIVES: The link between cannabis use and psychotic symptoms or disorders is well known. However, the relation between cannabis withdrawal and psychotic symptoms is less studied. METHODS: To our knowledge, this is the first publication of an observational systematic report of cannabis-induced psychotic disorder with onset during withdrawal. Here, we review patients presenting to a major emergency room in Montreal between January 2020 and September 2023 in a context of psychotic symptoms following cannabis cessation. RESULTS: In total, seven male and one female patients presented at the peak of cannabis withdrawal with acute psychotic symptoms, representing less than 1% of all emergency service admissions. CONCLUSIONS: We discuss current knowledge regarding the endocannabinoid system and dopamine homeostasis to formulate hypotheses regarding these observations.

Electroconvulsive therapy in adolescents with intellectual disability and severe self-injurious behavior and aggression: a retrospective study.

Efficacious intervention for severe, treatment-refractory self-injurious behavior and aggression (SIB/AGG) in children and adolescents with intellectual disability and concomitant psychiatric disorders remains a complex and urgent issue. The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) on severe and treatment-resistant SIB/AGG in young people with intellectual disability and current psychiatric disorder. We reviewed the charts of all patients (N = 4) who received ECT in the context of SIB/AGG with resistance to behavioral interventions, milieu therapy and pharmacotherapy from 2007 to 2011. We scored the daily rate of SIB/AGG per patient for each hospital day. Inter rater reliability was good (intraclass correlations = 0.91). We used a mixed generalized linear model to assess whether the following explanatory variables (time, ECT) influenced the course of SIB/AGG over time, the dependant variable. The sample included two girls and two boys. The mean age at admission was 13.8 years old [range 12-14]. The patients had on average 19 ECT sessions [range 16-26] and one patient received maintenance ECT. There was no effect of time before and after ECT start. ECT was associated with a significant decrease in SIB/AGG scores (p < 0.001): mean aggression score post-ECT was half the pre-ECT value. ECT appears beneficial in severe, treatment-resistant SHBA in adolescents with intellectual disability.

Serum Concentration of Paliperidone Palmitate Administered Every 3 Weeks.

Schizophrenia, a disabling yet relatively common mental illness, is often controlled by antipsychotic drugs. However, long-term treatments are subject to non-adherence and consequent treatment failure. Non-adherence can be reduced by administration of slow-release drugs such as intramuscularly injected (IM) paliperidone palmitate. Considerable inter- and intra-individual variation in serum drug concentration exists, whose effect on clinical efficacy remains unclear. We report two cases of off-label use resulting in serum paliperidone levels greatly exceeding the recommended therapeutic window. A 20- and 31-year-old male were treated with 150 mg IM paliperidone palmitate/21 days. After one and two years, blood drug concentrations were 240 nmol/l and 610 nmol/l, respectively. Neither patient exhibited major adverse effects. Thus paliperidone serum levels greatly in excess of recommended targets can be well tolerated, although we urge caution with off-label use of paliperidone palmitate as it is not always the most appropriate way to achieve the control of schizophrenia.

Induction of Psychosis by Cyclobenzaprine.

Due to the stringent regulatory environment for therapeutics, common side-effects of drugs in the general population are largely well-documented. This is however less the case with certain patient subgroups who may exhibit significant adverse responses to therapeutics that are otherwise well-tolerated. We report a case of psychosis induced by exposure to a commonly prescribed drug to treat muscle spasms and associated pain cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril®). Cyclobenzaprine is structurally very similar to tricyclic anti-depressants, such as amyltriptine. While it is well known that agitation caused by cyclobenzaprine is not an uncommon occurrence in the elderly, there have also been sporadic reports of significant psychosis in association with the use of cyclobenzaprine in younger patients. We report a case of reversible mania in a susceptible 44-year-old patient with a lengthy history of mild borderline personality and bipolar disorder. Shortly after being treated with cyclobenzaprine for pain due to a minor injury, this patient exhibited significant signs of mania although these signs were readily reversible upon termination of the treatment with cyclobenzaprine. The patient's severe adverse reaction to this normally innocuous drug adds weight to the notion that there is reason for caution with its prescription for potentially susceptible patient subgroups.

[Topiramate in substance-related and addictive disorders]. / Le topiramate a-t-il un intérêt en addictologie ?

BACKGROUND: Drug treatments used in substance use disorders are not effective in all patients. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of topiramate use in the treatment of substance use disorders. INFORMATION SOURCES: Medline database from January 1966 to December 2013, Cochrane database and clinicaltrials.gov. SELECTION OF STUDIES: We used keywords topiramate, addiction, substance abuse, alcohol, tobacco, nicotine, cocaine, methamphetamine, opiate, heroin, benzodiazepine, cannabis, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, gambling. All clinical trials were included. Animal trials, laboratory tests, reviews, answers to writers, case-reports, case series and publications unrelated to the topic were excluded. Twenty-eight articles investigating the efficacy of topiramate in substance use were included. RESULTS: In alcohol-related disorder, several trials and a meta-analysis showed a reduction of days of consumption. In a single-center trial on tobacco-related disorder, topiramate was not found effective in reducing the carbon monoxide expired. In cocaine-related disorder, one single-center trial showed a reduction of days of consumption and two single-center trials have found a trend in favour of topiramate. In alcohol and cocaine co-dependency, a single-center trial found a trend in favour of topiramate. In methamphetamine-related disorder, a multicenter trial found a trend in favour of topiramate. In bulimia nervosa, two single-center trials showed a reduction in binge eating and compensatory behaviours. In binge eating disorder, several trials showed a reduction of binge eating and weight. In gambling, one single-center trial did not show any significant results. There were no randomized controlled trials found in opioid-related disorder, benzodiazepines-related disorder, and cannabis-related disorder. LIMITATIONS: Definition of abstinence and methods to assess the efficacy of topiramate differed between trials. The methodological quality of included trials was variable, especially with no double-blind procedure in eight trials. CONCLUSION: Topiramate showed interest mainly in alcoholism, binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. No definitive conclusions can be reached for other substance use disorders such as nicotine dependence, cocaine dependence, amphetamine dependence or cannabis dependence and for gambling.