Tardive oculogyric crisis associated with amisulpride monotherapy.

Oculogyric crisis (OGC) is a dystonic and distressing side- effect which occurs immediately after the administration of high-potency antipsychotic drugs and is usually reported as a subtype of dystonia. We report a case of a young woman with schizophrenia who presented with tardive OGC related to amisulpride.

Complicated grief in a two-and-a-half-year-old child.

The concept of "absence of grief" in children has been embedded in psychoanalytic literature since its beginning. The clinical phenomenon of grief in a toddler is rarely described or analysed in the psychiatric literature. Early theorists felt that grieving does not occur until adolescence due to a younger child's psychological structure, including poor object-relations development. However, data on grief reaction in preschool children has mostly been under-reported or neglected, especially since most of the studies on childhood grief have been conducted on school-age children. We present a two-and-a-half-year-old girl, whose emotional and behavioural reactions to the loss of her grandfather became a focus of clinical attention. This report shows that even toddlers can mourn for their loved ones, although the expression and process of grief differ from that of older children and may occasionally draw clinical attention. Suggestions on how to investigate this phenomenon more closely and how to avoid it in socio-cultural contexts are proposed.

Efficacy of sodium valproate and haloperidol in the management of acute mania: a randomized open-label comparative study.

This study was carried out to compare the efficacy of intravenous sodium valproate with intramuscular haloperidol in patients with acute mania. A total of 30 patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for acute manic episodes were enrolled. They were randomly assigned to 2 groups of 15 patients each. Both groups were treated twice daily with haloperidol (10 mg, intramuscular) and sodium valproate (500 mg, intravenous). The patients were assessed on days 1, 5, 9, and 13. Improvement in symptoms was assessed by reduction in the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS). Outcome criterions for analysis were latency of response and remission; additional drugs were required for sedation. At the end of the 2-week study period, overall response rate in both the groups was similar (P > .1). In comparison to haloperidol group, patients treated with sodium valproate showed faster response, and on day 5, significant reduction in YMRS score was observed in the group treated with sodium valproate (P < .05). Total amount of lorazepam was less in patients treated with sodium valproate. Extrapyramidal symptom episodes were observed in 60% of patients treated with haloperidol. Sodium valproate in the treatment of acute mania is as efficacious as haloperidol but provides a faster response. It is safer compared to haloperidol.

Risperidone-related reversal of primary enuresis: an unusual case report.

Occasional reports have documented treatment-emergent enuresis with medication regimens that include risperidone. In contrast to these reports, we present a 12-year-old girl with mild mental retardation and primary nocturnal enuresis who received risperidone (0.5 mg/day) for the isolated symptom of inappropriate smiling. Surprisingly, in addition to reduction in inappropriate smiling, risperidone also substantially decreased the frequency of enuresis. These benefits with risperidone were confirmed in an on-off-on treatment sequence. To our knowledge, this is the first case in literature of primary enuresis responding to low-dose risperidone. Low-dose risperidone may merit study in children with enuresis. Clinical implications and possible mechanisms are discussed.

Anorexia nervosa: an Indian perspective.

Anorexia nervosa is a condition thought to be associated with the western culture. However, the recent publication of a case series from Asia suggests that it is a syndrome related to a changing culture. We present a detailed clinical form of this syndrome based on descriptive analysis of 2 cases of anorexia nervosa. Both these patients were adolescent, school-going girls from middle socioeconomic class of urban background. They were pre-morbidly non-obese and did not have any pressures to pursue slimness for beauty. However, there was an identifiable psychosocial stressor as a precipitant in both of them. Both the patients had symptoms of refusal to eat followed by weight loss. We could not identify any risk factor in our patients for anorexia nervosa. Our report illustrates the differences in developmental and psychodynamic issues related to the development of anorexia nervosa, though the clinical symptoms may be similar.

Aripiprazole use in a pregnant schizoaffective woman.

BACKGROUND: There are few or no clinical data on the safety of aripiprazole during pregnancy and lactation. CASE REPORT: A 27-year-old schizoaffective woman conceived while receiving aripiprazole 15 mg/day. The drug was withdrawn during the eighth week of gestation. She relapsed at week 20, and resumed treatment with the drug at a dose of 10 mg/day. She responded well, and the drug was continued through the rest of the pregnancy. The pregnancy was uneventful, but unexplained fetal tachycardia necessitated a cesarean section at full term. The newborn infant was normal in all regards and developed normally during a 6-month follow up. The infant required to be bottle-fed because of a failure of lactation. CONCLUSION: In this case, exposure to aripiprazole during different trimesters of pregnancy was not associated with intrauterine death, morphological teratogenicity, impaired fetal growth, neonatal toxicity, or neurobehavioral teratogenicity. Maternal health was not adversely affected during pregnancy. However, lactation failure occurred after delivery.