[Path to health insurance coverage - The Clearing Center 1.0 at the Public Health Authority in Frankfurt am Main]. / Wege in den Krankenversicherungsschutz ­ Das Pilotprojekt Clearingstelle 1.0 am Gesundheitsamt Frankfurt am Main.

Nationwide, an estimated 500,000 to 1 million people are not insured and therefore lack access to regular health structures, which can have fatal consequences for the health of those affected. Especially in large cities, there are low-threshold medical outpatient clinics that offer basic health care parallel to the regular system. Sustainable solutions for ensuring adequate healthcare are lacking. Clearing centers (German: Clearingstelle), serving as contact points for people without health insurance coverage, and the concept of an Anonymous Treatment Voucher (German: Anonymer Behandlungsschein; ABS), bridge the gap between parallel and regular health systems. With the pilot implementation of "Clearing Center 1.0" at the Public Health Authority in Frankfurt am Main from 2020 to 2022, the basic medical care of Humanitarian Consultation Hour was complemented by professional social counseling with the aim of referring as many individuals as possible to the statutory regular system. The expansion of the counseling services and the permanent establishment of the clearing center in Frankfurt am Main are declared goals for the Public Health Authority.

Using routine emergency department data for syndromic surveillance of acute respiratory illness, Germany, week 10 2017 until week 10 2021.

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic expanded the need for timely information on acute respiratory illness at population level.AimWe explored the potential of routine emergency department data for syndromic surveillance of acute respiratory illness in Germany.MethodsWe used routine attendance data from emergency departments, which continuously transferred data between week 10 2017 and 10 2021, with ICD-10 codes available for > 75% of attendances. Case definitions for acute respiratory infection (ARI), severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), influenza-like illness (ILI), respiratory syncytial virus infection (RSV) and COVID-19 were based on a combination of ICD-10 codes, and/or chief complaints, sometimes combined with information on hospitalisation and age.ResultsWe included 1,372,958 attendances from eight emergency departments. The number of attendances dropped in March 2020 during the first COVID-19 pandemic wave, increased during summer, and declined again during the resurge of COVID-19 cases in autumn and winter of 2020/21. A pattern of seasonality of respiratory infections could be observed. By using different case definitions (i.e. for ARI, SARI, ILI, RSV) both the annual influenza seasons in the years 2017-2020 and the dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020/21 were apparent. The absence of the 2020/21 influenza season was visible, parallel to the resurge of COVID-19 cases. SARI among ARI cases peaked in April-May 2020 (17%) and November 2020-January 2021 (14%).ConclusionSyndromic surveillance using routine emergency department data can potentially be used to monitor the trends, timing, duration, magnitude and severity of illness caused by respiratory viruses, including both influenza viruses and SARS-CoV-2.

[Using emergency department routine data for the surveillance of suicide attempts and psychiatric emergencies]. / Nutzung von Routinedaten aus Notaufnahmen zur Surveillance von Suizidversuchen und psychiatrischen Notfällen.

BACKGROUND: The occurrence of suicide attempts is a key indicator of the population's mental health and therefore belongs in the domain of Mental Health Surveillance at the Robert Koch Institute. No data source is currently being used systematically for the continuous observation of psychiatric emergencies (including suicide attempts) in Germany. Therefore, the use of routine data from emergency departments will be explored in this work. METHODS: We included routine data from 12 emergency departments between 1 January 2018 and 28 March 2021. We developed syndrome definitions for suicide attempts, psychiatric emergencies based on combinations of chief complaints, and diagnoses from patients presenting with psychopathological symptoms. A descriptive analysis over time was presented and stratified by age and sex. RESULTS: In total 1,516,883 emergency department attendances were included, among which we identified 5,133 cases (0.3%) as suicide attempts, 31,085 (2.1%) as psychiatric emergencies, and 34,230 (2.3%) as cases with psychiatric symptoms. Among psychiatric emergencies, 16.5% presented because of a suicide attempt. Of cases presenting with a suicide attempt, 53.4% were male and 20.2% were aged between 25 and 34 years. Cases identified by all 3 syndrome definitions and their temporal variations could be displayed over the entire observation period. CONCLUSION: Syndromic surveillance using emergency department data indicates a potential for continuous surveillance of suicide attempts and psychiatric emergencies and provides a basis for further validation and analysis. The display of changes in real time extends the current research opportunities for psychiatric emergencies in Germany. Systematic surveillance of suicide attempts can contribute to evidence-based suicide prevention.

Theta-Burst Stimulation for Auditory-Verbal Hallucination in Very-Late-Onset Schizophrenia-Like Psychosis-A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Case Study.

BACKGROUND: Treating very-late-onset (>60 years) schizophrenia-like psychosis (VLOSLP) is challenging. Age-related factors in elderly individuals (e.g., metabolism, medication side effects, drug-interaction, somatic morbidity) may adversely affect treatment. Novel therapeutic approaches are needed to ensure the favorable therapeutic outcome in geriatric patients. Previously, theta-burst stimulation (TBS), a novel form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, was reported being beneficial in the treatment for auditory-verbal hallucination (AVH) in young and middle-aged schizophrenia (SZ) patients. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we present a case of a male patient aged 73. His first psychotic episode manifested with paranoid delusions, auditory-verbal and tactile hallucinations at the age of 66, and first remitted following a second-generation antipsychotics (SGA). Years later, after a relapse the AVH did not respond to previously effective olanzapine, whereas its augmentation with an inhibitory TBS over the left temporal lobe led to a stable remission. During his second relapse, TBS was again capable of facilitating therapeutic action of SGA in the same patient. Extending to our clinical observation, a series of functional MRI scans employing a tonal activation paradigm depicted altered auditory processing during AVH as well as brain activation change during remission. CONCLUSIONS: The current case might indicate to favorable effects of combining conventional medicament therapy and non-invasive brain stimulation techniques for elderly patients. Also, we speculate that despite obviously distinct etiologies, the present functional imaging and clinical observation may also demonstrate a possible common pathophysiological pathway underlying AVH in VLOSLP and SZ.

Intermittent theta-burst stimulation moderates interaction between increment of N-Acetyl-Aspartate in anterior cingulate and improvement of unipolar depression.

BACKGROUND: Intermittent theta-burst stimulation (iTBS), a novel repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) technique, appears to have antidepressant effects when applied over left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). However, its underlying neurobiological mechanisms are unclear. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) provides in vivo measurements of cerebral metabolites altered in major depressive disorder (MDD) like N-acetyl-aspartate (NAA) and choline-containing compounds (Cho). We used MRS to analyse effects of iTBS on the associations between the shifts in the NAA and Cho levels during therapy and MDD improvement. METHODS: In-patients with unipolar MDD (N = 57), in addition to treatment as usual, were randomized to receive 20 iTBS or sham stimulations applied over left DLPFC over four weeks. Single-voxel 1H-MRS of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) was performed at baseline and follow-up. Increments of concentrations, as well as MDD improvement, were defined as endpoints. We tested a moderated mediation model of effects using the PROCESS macro (an observed variable ordinary least squares and logistic regression path analysis modeling tool) for SPSS. RESULTS: Improvement of depressive symptoms was significantly associated with decrease of Cho/NAA ratio, mediated by NAA. iTBS had a significant moderating effect enhancing the relationship between NAA change and depression improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest a potential neurochemical pathway and mechanisms of antidepressant action of iTBS, which may moderate the improvement of metabolic markers of neuronal viability. iTBS might increase neuroplasticity, thus facilitating normalization of neuronal circuit function.

[Psychiatric polypharmacy and electroconvulsive therapy in treatment-resistant depression]. / Psychiatrische Polypharmazie und Elektrokonvulsionstherapie bei therapieresistenter Depression.

BACKGROUND: Despite its relevant medical risks, polypharmacy is common particularly among difficult to treat conditions, e.g. treatment refractory depression (TRD). According to numerous guidelines, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the treatment of choice in severe and treatment-resistant major depression due to the high effectiveness; however, to date limited data are available concerning the effects of ECT on the concomitant prescription of psychiatric medication. METHODS: For a retrospective explorative analysis of psychiatric polypharmacy (MED) in TRD, data from 58 inpatient treatments were collected. Due to depressive episodes, all patients received psychopharmacological treatment and cognitive behavioral therapy (MED group). Of the patients 29 also underwent ECT (ECT group). Using a modified drug burden index (mod-DBI), the psychiatric medication was quantified at admission (TP0), start (TP1) and termination of ECT (TP2) and discharge in the ECT group or in comparable periods in the MED group (TP3). Differences in distribution were tested with the t-test and alterations in measurements were tested by means of variance analysis (F-test). RESULTS: Patients treated with ECT showed higher mod-DBI values at TP0, mainly due to more frequent prescription of benzodiazepines (BZD), mood stabilizers (MS) and antipsychotic drugs (AP). At the beginning of the inpatient treatment (TP0-TP1) there was an increase in BZD use (in both groups); in the ECT group MS were reduced and AP increased. In the time interval TP1-TP3, BZD (in both groups) and AP (ECT group) were again less frequently prescribed and MS (ECT and MED group) were increased again. Excluding BZD, there was a significant increase in mod-DBI in both groups, whereas the mod-DBI no longer showed significant differences at TP2 and TP3. CONCLUSION: The data possibly indicate that patients with TRD who receive ECT during inpatient treatment already have a more extensive psychiatric medication at admission. Also, psychiatric medication appears to be increased less prominently when ECT is performed. These findings and the possibly associated long-term benefits should be addressed in future research.

Electroconvulsive therapy modulates grey matter increase in a hub of an affect processing network.

A growing number of recent studies has suggested that the neuroplastic effects of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) might be prominent enough to be detected through changes of regional gray matter volumes (GMV) during the course of the treatment. Given that ECT patients are difficult to recruit for imaging studies, most publications, however, report only on small samples. Addressing this challenge, we here report results of a structural imaging study on ECT patients that pooled patients from five German sites. Whole-brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis was performed to detect structural differences in 85 patients with unipolar depression before and after ECT, when compared to 86 healthy controls. Both task-independent and task-dependent physiological whole-brain functional connectivity patterns of these regions were modeled using additional data from healthy subjects. All emerging regions were additionally functionally characterized using the BrainMap database. Our VBM analysis detected a significant increase of GMV in the right hippocampus/amygdala region in patients after ECT compared to healthy controls. In healthy subjects this region was found to be enrolled in a network associated with emotional processing and memory. A region in the left fusiform gyrus was additionally found to have higher GMV in controls when compared with patients at baseline. This region showed minor changes after ECT. Our data points to a GMV increase in patients post ECT in regions that seem to constitute a hub of an emotion processing network. This appears as a plausible antidepressant mechanism and could explain the efficacy of ECT not only in the treatment of unipolar depression, but also of affective symptoms across heterogeneous disorders.

Electroconvulsive therapy induced gray matter increase is not necessarily correlated with clinical data in depressed patients.

BACKGROUND: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and depression have been associated with brain volume changes, especially in the hippocampus and the amygdala. METHODS: In this retrospective study we collected data from individual pre-post ECT whole brain magnetic resonance imaging scans of depressed patients from six German university hospitals. Gray matter volume (GMV) changes were quantified via voxel-based morphometry in a total sample of 92 patients with major depressive episodes (MDE). Additionally, 43 healthy controls were scanned twice within a similar time interval. RESULTS: Most prominently longitudinal GMV increases occurred in temporal lobe regions. Within specific region of interests we detected significant increases of GMV in the hippocampus and the amygdala. These results were more pronounced in the right hemisphere. Decreases in GMV were not observed. GMV changes did not correlate with psychopathology, age, gender or number of ECT sessions. We ruled out white matter reductions as a possible indirect cause of the detected GMV increase. CONCLUSION: The present findings support the notion of hippocampus and amygdala modulation following an acute ECT series in patients with MDE. These results corroborate the hypothesis that ECT enables primarily unspecific and regionally dependent neuroplasticity effects to the brain.

Polygenic risk for schizophrenia affects working memory and its neural correlates in healthy subjects.

Schizophrenia is a disorder with a high heritability. Patients as well as their first degree relatives display lower levels of performance in a number of cognitive domains compared to subjects without genetic risk. Several studies could link these aberrations to single genetic variants, however, only recently, polygenic risk scores as proxies for genetic risk have been associated with cognitive domains and their neural correlates. In the present study, a sample of healthy subjects (n=137) performed a letter version of the n-back task while scanned with 3-T fMRI. All subjects were genotyped with the PsychChip and polygenic risk scores were calculated based on the PGC2 schizophrenia GWAS results. Polygenic risk for schizophrenia was associated with a lower degree of brain activation in prefrontal areas during the 3-back compared to the 0-back baseline condition. Furthermore, polygenic risk was associated with lower levels of brain activation in the right inferior frontal gyrus during the 3-back compared to a 2-back condition. Polygenic risk leads to a shift in the underlying activation pattern to the left side, thus resembling results reported in patients with schizophrenia. The data may point to polygenic risk for schizophrenia being associated with brain function in a cognitive task known to be impaired in patients and their relatives.

Low left amygdala volume is associated with a longer duration of unipolar depression.

The amygdala plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of major depressive disorder (MDD). While robust findings support a negative impact of illness duration on hippocampal volume in MDD, morphometric studies of the amygdala have yielded inhomogeneous results. Considering the methodical problems of automatic segmentation methods, a standardized segmentation protocol with proven inter- and intra-rater reliability was employed using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging. To identify the effect of MDD on amygdala morphometry, 23 unipolar depressed patients who responded to antidepressant medication and 30 age-matched healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. First, gray matter volumes (GMV) of the bilateral amygdala were delineated manually in 3D by three blinded experts using the MultiTracer. The whole brain GMV was determined by using voxel-based morphometry. Second, the differences of the whole brain and the bilateral amygdala GMV values between MDD and HC were calculated with t-statistics. The GMV of the whole brain and the amygdala did not differ between HC and MDD patients. Third, MDD characteristics were correlated with amygdala GMV. Within the normal range, the left amygdala GMV was larger in patients with later onset and smaller in cases of prolonged depression. In line with prior reports of depressed patients responding to antidepressant treatment, amygdala GMV was negatively related to illness duration, suggesting volume loss with disease progression. It remains unclear as to whether the association between illness duration and GMV reduced left amygdala volume indicates a neurotoxic effect of prolonged MDD or is rather a negative predictor of chronic depression.

White matter integrity and symptom dimensions of schizophrenia: A diffusion tensor imaging study.

Impaired fiber bundle connectivity between brain regions is a key neuropathological finding in schizophrenia. Symptom dimensions in schizophrenia can be clustered into factor models. Single syndromes have been related to grey and white matter brain structure alterations. We associated all core syndromes of schizophrenia in a single patient group with changes in white matter integrity. Diffusion weighted images (3T MRI) and SAPS/SANS scores were measured in 26 male patients and 26 healthy controls. First, group differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) were calculated with TBSS. Second, core symptom dimensions of schizophrenia were correlated with FA within these altered tracts. We found differences between groups in nine white matter tracts. Hallucinations were positively correlated with FA in the left uncinate fasciculus and left corticospinal tract. Ego-disturbances (passivity phenomena) showed a positive correlation with FA in the right anterior thalamic radiation. Positive formal thought disorders (FTD) corresponded negatively with FA in the right cingulum bundle. Negative symptoms were positively associated with the right anterior thalamic radiation and negatively with the right ventral cingulum bundle. For the first time, we analyzed the whole range of psychopathological factors in one schizophrenia patient group. We could validate our novel results for positive FTD and passivity phenomena by replicating findings for hallucinations and negative symptoms. Only those brain circuits which are most vulnerable at a given time during neurodevelopment are affected by a particular pathological impact (genetic, environmental). This scenario could explain the predominance of particular psychopathological syndromes related to specific white matter anomalies.