Atomoxetine improves communication in a girl with semantic-pragmatic disorder.

This report describes the case of an ADHD girl (hereafter referred to as K) with semantic-pragmatic disorder, she was treated with atomoxetine. K was a 9-year-old girl. She had difficulty understanding words or sentences, finding words, and producing sentences. K also displayed symptoms of severe inattentiveness. K was diagnosed with DSM-IV-defined(1) ADHD, predominantly the inattentive type. Her communication impairment was considered symptomatic of semantic-pragmatic disorder. K was started on atomoxetine, the dose was increased to 50 mg/day (dosage based on weight: 1.8 mg/kg). Her communication activities were improved a few weeks after atomoxetine 50 mg/day was administered. She was unable to organize information pertaining to words, and so could not use words in expressive language. These problems were mitigated through the administration of atomoxetine. Further prospective studies are needed to better understand the therapeutic effects of atomoxetine in patients with semantic-pragmatic disorder.

Antenatal depression and maternal-fetal attachment.

BACKGROUND: In recent years, attention has been turned to maternal mental health in relation to the mother-child relationship accompanying a widening in focus, i.e. taking into account not only the puerperium, but also the stage of pregnancy. This applies to studies that have revealed a connection between depression and maternal attachment in the postpartum period and late pregnancy. This study, however, was designed to evaluate the maternal-fetal relationship in the first and second trimesters, being the first one to address this issue in these early stages. SAMPLING AND METHODS: Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS), the original Antenatal Maternal Attachment Scale (AMAS), and a questionnaire addressing peripheral factors were given to 216 pregnant women (3-6 months of gestation) who visited the Nagoya University Hospital between September 1998 and June 2001. RESULTS: Contrary to reports on the latter stages of pregnancy, no direct association was observed between depression in mothers and maternal-fetal attachment before fetal movement was perceived. CONCLUSION: However, education, form of employment, planning of pregnancy, and premenstrual mood changes were found to be associated with the ZSDS score (mean: 41.9), while form of employment, feelings regarding pregnancy, and sources of support were extracted as factors associated with the AMAS, which are of interest in terms of the subsequent association between depression and maternal-fetal attachment in the peri- and postnatal periods.