Severity of Antipsychotic-Induced Cervical Dystonia Assessed by the Algorithm-Based Rating System.

Background: The severity of antipsychotic-induced cervical dystonia has traditionally been evaluated visually. However, recent advances in information technology made quantification possible in this field through the introduction of engineering methodologies like machine learning.Methods: This study was conducted from June 2021 to March 2023. Psychiatrists rated the severity of cervical dystonia into 4 levels (0: none, 1: minimal, 2: mild, and 3: moderate) for 101 videoclips, recorded from 87 psychiatric patients receiving antipsychotics. The Face Mesh function of the open-source framework MediaPipe was employed to calculate the tilt angles of anterocollis or retrocollis, laterocollis, and torticollis. These were calculated to examine the range of tilt angles for the 4 levels of severity of the different types of cervical dystonia.Results: The tilt angles calculated using Face Mesh for each level of dystonia were 0° ≤ θ < 6° for none, 6° ≤ θ < 11° for minimal, 11° ≤ θ < 25° for mild, and 25° ≤ θ for moderate laterocollis; 0° ≤ θ < 11° for none, 11° ≤ θ < 18° for minimal, 18° ≤ θ <25° for mild, and 25° ≤ θ for moderate anterocollis or retrocollis; and 0° ≤ θ < 9° for none, 9° ≤ θ < 17° for minimal, 17° ≤ θ < 32° for mild, and 32° ≤ θ for moderate torticollis.Conclusion: While further validation with new cases is needed, the range of tilt angles in this study could provide a standard for future artificial intelligence devices for cervical dystonia.

The inter-rater reliability of the Japanese version of the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, clinician version.

The Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, clinician version (IDS­C), was developed by Rush et al. to evaluate the severity of major depressive episodes. The aim of the present study was to establish the inter­rater reliability of the Japanese version of the IDS­C. A total of 16 subjects with DSM­IV major depressive episode were evaluated. Two psychiatrists, who had completed a training session for evaluating the IDS­C before starting this reliability study, attended systematic interview sessions with each subject to evaluate the IDS­C independently, using the Japanese version of the structured interview guide for combined rating of the IDS­C and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The severity of the 30 IDS­C items assessed by the two raters ranged from 0 to 4 for 27 items and from 0 to 3 for 3 items. The analysis of variance intra­class correlation inter­rater reliability values for the individual scale items ranged from 0.874 to 1.000. The present results suggest that the Japanese version of the IDS­C is a potentially useful rating instrument with high inter­rater reliability for measuring the severity of depressive symptoms in the hands of psychiatrists with sufficient evaluation training.

Brief PANSS to assess and monitor the overall severity of schizophrenia.

AIMS: The aim of the present study was to develop a subscale of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) that would be brief and sensitive to changes in the clinical features of schizophrenia (i.e. the Brief PANSS, or bPANSS). METHODS: The PANSS before and after treatment, and the Clinical Global Impression-Change (CGI-C) was rated for 714 schizophrenia patients. Of these, Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) was also evaluated in 30 of these patients. The bPANSS items were extracted from full PANSS items based on the following aims: (i) to develop a brief scale; (ii) to develop a scale sensitive to changes resulting from antipsychotic treatment; and (iii) to reflect the broad spectrum of schizophrenia symptoms. RESULTS: The following six items were extracted to serve as the bPANSS: delusion, suspiciousness, emotional withdrawal, passive/apathetic social withdrawal, tension, and unusual thought content. The coefficients of correlation between the bPANSS and full PANSS before and after treatment were 0.86 and 0.92, respectively (both P < 0.001). The coefficient of correlation between the degrees of change in the scores for the bPANSS and the full PANSS was 0.93 (P < 0.001), and that between delta bPANSS and CGI-C was 0.73 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: bPANSS is able to capture the overall clinical features of schizophrenia within a short assessment period.

Three cases of schizophrenia for which olanzapine was effective after early acute phase.

AIMS: It clarifies a difference between early acute phase and late acute phase in medication. METHODS: The present report describes three patients with schizophrenia who presented with restlessness and excitement requiring hospitalization. RESULTS: Treatment with risperidone solution orally or parenteral haloperidol until the day after admission, followed by olanzapine, successfully improved the clinical condition of the patients. In the early stage of hospitalization, selection of fast-acting drugs that can be administered to uncooperative patients is considered preferable, focusing on rapid control of symptoms and behavioral disorders, whereas after this early stage, olanzapine is preferable for improving patient compliance in addition to stabilizing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Because the target symptoms differ between the early and late acute phases, the term 'acute phase' used in the broad sense should be divided into two units, each requiring a different therapeutic strategy, and independent clinical approaches should be considered in order to provide more suitable treatment.

Methamphetamine psychosis in which tardive dystonia was successfully treated with clonazepam.

Reported herein is a case of methamphetamine psychosis in which tardive dystonia was treated successfully with clonazepam. The patient was a 69-year-old man who had taken methamphetamine habitually for approximately 40 years. Auditory hallucinations had developed 25 years previously, for which haloperidol had been prescribed. Tardive dystonia had developed in December 2005. Haloperidol was withdrawn and risperidone or olanzapine alone had been administered, but neither had improved the dystonic posture. However, when clonazepam was added, a gradual improvement in the dystonic posture became evident. Tardive dystonia is currently treated on a trial-and-error basis. Accumulation of further cases similar to the present one is very important for establishing an effective treatment.