[Open study of clotiazepam (Clozan) in ambulatory anxious patients centered on a multifactorial evaluation using the AMDP and on a study of the rebound effect]. / Etude ouverte du clotiazépam (Clozan) chez des patients anxieux ambulatoires centrée sur une évaluation multifactorielle par l'AMDP et sur l'étude de l'effet rebond.

The efficacy and tolerance of the first thienodiazepine, clotiazepam, is well established but its clinical spectrum and the possibility of a rebound effect upon its cessation needed further research. Moreover, the validity of the AMDP Anxiety scale had been tested but not yet its sensitivity to change. Clotiazepam was given in an "open" design to 42 anxious outpatients at the dosage of 3 X 5 to 3 X 10 mg daily during 1 month, followed by a 1-week "single blind" placebo period. No other psychotropic drug was needed in 74% of the cases. A battery of observer rating scales (CGI, VAS, HAMA, BPRS, AMDP-4 and -5, AMDP-AT) confirmed the anxiolytic and tensiolytic efficacy of clotiazepam as well as its excellent tolerance. The 13-factor AMDP profile proved superior to short scales in the sample description and in the illustration of the clinical spectrum of the drug. Both the HAMA and the AMDP-AT were sensitive to change but the HAMA more significantly than the AMDP-AT.

[Acute porphyria and psychiatry. Updating our knowledge]. / Porphyries aiguës et psychiatrie. Actualisation des connaissances.

On the occasion of a clinical case of acute porphyria, the authors review the present knowledge on the biochemistry, pathophysiology, clinical picture, diagnosis and therapy of this group of disorders. They stress their importance in psychiatry and present two lists of authorized vs contra-indicated drugs in these disorders.

[Computerized letter to the attending physician. Practical application of the AMDP (Association of Methodology and Documentation in Psychiatry)]. / La lettre informatisée au médecin traitant une application pratique de l'amdp.

The authors have elaborated a micro-computerized program which enables --on the basis of the Psychopathology Form (plus optionally the Somatic Form) of the AMDP-System and of an open-language diagnosis and treatment --to print out instantly a semi-standardized letter and a syndromic profile of 10 or 13 factors. This realization is favorably acknowledged by general practitioners and medical inspectors thanks to its speed of transmission, to its brevity and to the clarity of the syndromic reduction of the clinical picture. Other advantages lie in the greater validity of factor scores as compared to items scores, the standardization and readability of the clinical files, and the extension of the AMDP data bank.

[Factor analysis of the French revision of the AMDP rating scales. Results of an international study of 388 cases]. / Analyse factorielle de la révision française de l'échelle AMDP. Résultats d'une étude internationale de 388 cas.

A total of 388 patients from 10 Belgian and French Centers were evaluated with the 1981 revision of the psychopathological and somatic scales of the AMDP System. Principal components factor analyses indicate that the somatic items contribute little to the structure. A 10-factors solution of the psychopathological items generate the following factors after orthogonal rotation: Obsessions-Phobias, Dramatization, Anxiety, Depression, Retardation, Organicity, Dissociation, Delusions, Mania, Dysphoria. This structure is similar to the analyses of the previous German edition except for Anxiety (due to additional French items) and Dramatization (which replaces the German factor on Hypochondriasis). The correlations between raw factor scores and item scores of the BPRS and of a similar AMDP-derived scale contribute to the validation of the AMDP factors and to the justification of a 13-item AMDP Syndromic Scale.