PET/CT Fluoroscopy during PET/CT-Guided Interventions: Initial Experience.

This study assessed the feasibility and functionality of the use of a high-speed image fusion technology to generate and display positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) fluoroscopic images during PET/CT-guided tumor ablation procedures. Thirteen patients underwent 14 PET/CT-guided ablations for the treatment of 20 tumors. A Food and Drug Administration-cleared multimodal image fusion platform received images pushed from a scanner, followed by near-real-time, nonrigid image registration. The most recent intraprocedural PET dataset was fused to each single-rotation CT fluoroscopy dataset as it arrived, and the fused images were displayed on an in-room monitor. PET/CT fluoroscopic images were generated and displayed in all procedures and enabled more confident targeting in 3 procedures. The mean lag time from CT fluoroscopic image acquisition to the in-room display of the fused PET/CT fluoroscopic image was 21 seconds ± 8. The registration accuracy was visually satisfactory in 13 of 14 procedures. In conclusion, PET/CT fluoroscopy was feasible and may have the potential to facilitate PET/CT-guided procedures.

Feasibility of multi-section continuum robotic ureteroscope in the kidney.

Our objective was to evaluate the feasibility of a multi-section continuum robotic ureteroscope to address the difficulties with access into certain renal calyces during flexible ureteroscopy. First, the robotic ureteroscope developed in previous research, which utilizes three actuated bendable sections controlled by wires, was modified for use in this project. Second, using phantom models created from five randomly selected computer tomography urograms, the flexible ureteroscope and robotic ureteroscope were evaluated, focusing on several factors: time taken to access each renal calyx, time taken to aim at three targets on each renal calyx, the force generated in the renal pelvic wall associated with ureteroscope manipulation, and the distance and standard deviation between the ureteroscope and the target. As a result, the robotic ureteroscope utilized significantly less force during lower pole calyx access (flexible ureteroscope vs. robotic ureteroscope; 2.0 vs. 0.98 N, p = 0.03). When aiming at targets, the standard deviation of proper target access was smaller for each renal calyx (upper pole: 0.49 vs. 0.11 mm, middle: 0.84 vs. 0.12 mm, lower pole: 3.4 vs. 0.19 mm) in the robotic ureteroscope group, and the distance between the center point of the ureteroscope image and the target was significantly smaller in the robotic ureteroscope group (upper: 0.49 vs. 0.19 mm, p < 0.001, middle: 0.77 vs. 0.17 mm, p < 0.001, lower: 0.77 vs. 0.22 mm, p < 0.001). In conclusion, our robotic ureteroscope demonstrated improved maneuverability and facilitated accuracy and precision while reducing the force on the renal pelvic wall during access into each renal calyx.

Computer-based airway stenosis quantification from bronchoscopic images: preliminary results from a feasibility trial.

PURPOSE: Airway Stenosis (AS) is a condition of airway narrowing in the expiration phase. Bronchoscopy is a minimally invasive pulmonary procedure used to diagnose and/or treat AS. The AS quantification in a form of the Stenosis Index (SI), whether subjective or digital, is necessary for the physician to decide on the most appropriate form of treatment. The literature reports that the subjective SI estimation is inaccurate. In this paper, we propose an approach to quantify the SI defining the level of airway narrowing, using depth estimation from a bronchoscopic image. METHODS: In this approach we combined a generative depth estimation technique combined with depth thresholding to provide Computer-based AS quantification. We performed an interim clinical analysis by comparing AS quantification performance of three expert bronchoscopists against the proposed Computer-based method on seven patient datasets. RESULTS: The Mean Absolute Error of the subjective Human-based and the proposed Computer-based SI estimation was [Formula: see text] [%] and [Formula: see text] [%], respectively. The correlation coefficients between the CT measurements were used as the gold standard, and the Human-based and Computer-based SI estimation were [Formula: see text] and 0.46, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We presented a new computer method to quantify the severity of AS in bronchoscopy using depth estimation and compared the performance of the method against a human-based approach. The obtained results suggest that the proposed Computer-based AS quantification is a feasible tool that has the potential to provide significant assistance to physicians in bronchoscopy.

Automatic segmentation of prostate and extracapsular structures in MRI to predict needle deflection in percutaneous prostate intervention.

PURPOSE: Understanding the three-dimensional anatomy of percutaneous intervention in prostate cancer is essential to avoid complications. Recently, attempts have been made to use machine learning to automate the segmentation of functional structures such as the prostate gland, rectum, and bladder. However, a paucity of material is available to segment extracapsular structures that are known to cause needle deflection during percutaneous interventions. This research aims to explore the feasibility of the automatic segmentation of prostate and extracapsular structures to predict needle deflection. METHODS: Using pelvic magnetic resonance imagings (MRIs), 3D U-Net was trained and optimized for the prostate and extracapsular structures (bladder, rectum, pubic bone, pelvic diaphragm muscle, bulbospongiosus muscle, bull of the penis, ischiocavernosus muscle, crus of the penis, transverse perineal muscle, obturator internus muscle, and seminal vesicle). The segmentation accuracy was validated by putting intra-procedural MRIs into the 3D U-Net to segment the prostate and extracapsular structures in the image. Then, the segmented structures were used to predict deflected needle path in in-bore MRI-guided biopsy using a model-based approach. RESULTS: The 3D U-Net yielded Dice scores to parenchymal organs (0.61-0.83), such as prostate, bladder, rectum, bulb of the penis, crus of the penis, but lower in muscle structures (0.03-0.31), except and obturator internus muscle (0.71). The 3D U-Net showed higher Dice scores for functional structures ([Formula: see text]0.001) and complication-related structures ([Formula: see text]0.001). The segmentation of extracapsular anatomies helped to predict the deflected needle path in MRI-guided prostate interventions of the prostate with the accuracy of 0.9 to 4.9 mm. CONCLUSION: Our segmentation method using 3D U-Net provided an accurate anatomical understanding of the prostate and extracapsular structures. In addition, our method was suitable for segmenting functional and complication-related structures. Finally, 3D images of the prostate and extracapsular structures could simulate the needle pathway to predict needle deflections.

Psychedelic Knowledge and Opinions in Psychiatrists at Two Professional Conferences: An Exploratory Survey.

Despite resurgent interest in psychedelic-assisted therapy, our insights into psychiatrists' knowledge and opinions about medicinal psychedelic applications are surprisingly narrow. Therefore, we anonymously surveyed psychiatrists attending psychedelic didactic presentations at two national meetings about these issues using a 26-item questionnaire. Response rate was 40.20% (106/264). Respondents were 41.73 ± 13.31 years old (range: 24-80) and 64.42% were male. They largely believed psychedelics show treatment promise and strongly supported federal funding for medicinal psychedelic research. The most common concerns were the lack of trained psychedelic-assisted therapy providers, the logistics of psychedelic-assisted therapy delivery, the administration of psychedelics for patients with contraindications, and diversion. The most desired psychedelic-related educational topics were potential benefits of psychedelic-assisted therapy, how to conduct psychedelic-assisted therapy, psychedelic pharmacology, and psychedelic side effects. Factors associated with increased belief in psychedelics' treatment potential included working primarily in research, scoring higher on a psychedelic knowledge test, and reporting less concern about psychedelics' addictive potential. Working primarily in research and consult-liaison psychiatry fellowship training were positively associated with support for medicinal psychedelic legalization, while increased concerns about addictive potential and attending psychiatrist status were negatively associated. Support for legalization of non-medicinal psychedelic use was negatively associated with age and positively associated with support for legalization of medicinal psychedelic use.

Psychedelics as Reemerging Treatments for Anxiety Disorders: Possibilities and Challenges in a Nascent Field.

Although psychedelics initially showed promise in treating anxiety disorders, psychedelics were criminalized and research halted in the early 1970s. A subsequent resurgence of research into psychiatric benefits of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in the last 20 years has led to a potential paradigm shift in the treatment of numerous psychiatric disorders, including anxiety disorders. Despite accumulating evidence and likely U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval in the next 2-3 years, the emerging field of psychedelic medicine faces several challenges. Obstacles include ongoing barriers on the regulatory level, lack of education, stigma among mental health clinicians, cost and scalability, and a dearth of specialized personnel prepared to provide these treatments. Deeper issues of ethical responsibility and inclusivity also exist given the historical discovery and use of psychedelics by indigenous peoples throughout the world as well the ongoing disparities in mental health delivery and access within psychiatry and psychedelic research.

Visually Navigated Bronchoscopy using three cycle-Consistent generative adversarial network for depth estimation.

[Background] Electromagnetically Navigated Bronchoscopy (ENB) is currently the state-of-the art diagnostic and interventional bronchoscopy. CT-to-body divergence is a critical hurdle in ENB, causing navigation error and ultimately limiting the clinical efficacy of diagnosis and treatment. In this study, Visually Navigated Bronchoscopy (VNB) is proposed to address the aforementioned issue of CT-to-body divergence. [Materials and Methods] We extended and validated an unsupervised learning method to generate a depth map directly from bronchoscopic images using a Three Cycle-Consistent Generative Adversarial Network (3cGAN) and registering the depth map to preprocedural CTs. We tested the working hypothesis that the proposed VNB can be integrated to the navigated bronchoscopic system based on 3D Slicer, and accurately register bronchoscopic images to pre-procedural CTs to navigate transbronchial biopsies. The quantitative metrics to asses the hypothesis we set was Absolute Tracking Error (ATE) of the tracking and the Target Registration Error (TRE) of the total navigation system. We validated our method on phantoms produced from the pre-procedural CTs of five patients who underwent ENB and on two ex-vivo pig lung specimens. [Results] The ATE using 3cGAN was 6.2 +/- 2.9 [mm]. The ATE of 3cGAN was statistically significantly lower than that of cGAN, particularly in the trachea and lobar bronchus (p < 0.001). The TRE of the proposed method had a range of 11.7 to 40.5 [mm]. The TRE computed by 3cGAN was statistically significantly smaller than those computed by cGAN in two of the five cases enrolled (p < 0.05). [Conclusion] VNB, using 3cGAN to generate the depth maps was technically and clinically feasible. While the accuracy of tracking by cGAN was acceptable, the TRE warrants further investigation and improvement.

Technical Validation of Multi-Section Robotic Bronchoscope With First Person View Control for Transbronchial Biopsies of Peripheral Lung.

This study aims to validate the advantage of new engineering method to maneuver multi-section robotic bronchoscope with first person view control in transbronchial biopsy. Six physician operators were recruited and tasked to operate a manual and a robotic bronchoscope to the peripheral area placed in patient-derived lung phantoms. The metrics collected were the furthest generation count of the airway the bronchoscope reached, force incurred to the phantoms, and NASA-Task Load Index. The furthest generation count of the airway the physicians reached using the manual and the robotic bronchoscopes were 6.6 ±1.2th and 6.7 ±0.8th. Robotic bronchoscopes successfully reached the 5th generation count into the peripheral area of the airway, while the manual bronchoscope typically failed earlier in the 3 rd generation. More force was incurred to the airway when the manual bronchoscope was used ( 0.24 ±0.20 [N]) than the robotic bronchoscope was applied ( 0.18 ±0.22 [N], ). The manual bronchoscope imposed more physical demand than the robotic bronchoscope by NASA-TLX score ( 55 ±24 vs 19 ±16, ). These results indicate that a robotic bronchoscope facilitates the advancement of the bronchoscope to the peripheral area with less physical demand to physician operators. The metrics collected in this study would expect to be used as a benchmark for the future development of robotic bronchoscopes.

The Impact of an Optimism Training Intervention on Biological Measures Associated With Cardiovascular Health: Data From a Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: Positive psychological constructs, such as optimism, are associated with cardiovascular health, and changes in biological measures associated with heart health have been proposed as potential mediators of these relationships. In this analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial, we examined the impact of an optimism training intervention on biological measures associated with cardiac health in patients with coronary artery disease. METHODS: We analyzed data from an 8-week, randomized, controlled trial of a group-based optimism training intervention in 61 patients with coronary artery disease. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin 6, irisin, and fibrinogen were measured at baseline, 8 weeks, and 16 weeks. Mixed-effects regression analyses were performed to examine the effects of the intervention on changes in biological measures at 8 and 16 weeks. RESULTS: At 8 weeks, the intervention led to significantly greater reductions in hs-CRP (B = -0.851 [standard error {SE} = 0.273, p = .002) and fibrinogen (B = -0.148 [SE = 0.062], p = .016), and a greater increase in irisin (B = 0.252 [SE = 0.114], p = .027) compared with the control condition. These changes persisted at 16 weeks (hs-CRP: B = -1.078 [SE = 0.276], p < .001; fibrinogen: B = -0.270 [SE = 0.062], p < .001; irisin: B = 0.525 [SE = 0.116], p < .001), and interleukin 6 additionally was impacted at this time point (B = -0.214 [SE = 0.064], p = .001). Exploratory mediation analyses failed to identify significant psychological or health behavior mediators of these relationships. CONCLUSIONS: A group-based optimism training intervention resulted in significant, robust, and sustained changes in biological measures associated with cardiac health. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings in a larger sample and identify potential mediating variables. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Iran Registry of Clinical Trials No. 2016070328769 N1.

Simulated accuracy assessment of small footprint body-mounted probe alignment device for MRI-guided cryotherapy of abdominal lesions.

PURPOSE: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided percutaneous cryotherapy of abdominal lesions, an established procedure, uses MRI to guide and monitor the cryoablation of lesions. Methods to precisely guide cryotherapy probes with a minimum amount of trial-and-error are yet to be established. To aid physicians in attaining precise probe alignment without trial-and-error, a body-mounted motorized cryotherapy-probe alignment device (BMCPAD) with motion compensation was clinically tested in this study. The study also compared the contribution of body motion and organ motion compensation to the guidance accuracy of a body-mounted probe alignment device. METHODS: The accuracy of guidance using the BMCPAD was prospectively measured during MRI-guided percutaneous cryotherapies before insertion of the probes. Clinical parameters including patient age, types of anesthesia, depths of the target, and organ sites of target were collected. By using MR images of the target organs and fiducial markers embedded in the BMCPAD, we retrospectively simulated the guidance accuracy with body motion compensation, organ motion compensation, and no compensation. The collected data were analyzed to test the impact of motion compensation on the guidance accuracy. RESULTS: Thirty-seven physical guidance of probes were prospectively recorded for sixteen completed cases. The accuracy of physical guidance using the BMCPAD was 13.4 ± 11.1 mm. The simulated accuracy of guidance with body motion compensation, organ motion compensation, and no compensation was 2.4 ± 2.9 mm, 2.2 ± 1.6 mm, and 3.5 ± 2.9 mm, respectively. Data analysis revealed that the body motion compensation and organ motion compensation individually impacted the improvement in the accuracy of simulated guidance. Moreover, the difference in the accuracy of guidance either by body motion compensation or organ motion compensation was not statistically significant. The major clinical parameters impacting the accuracy of guidance were the body and organ motions. Patient age, types of anesthesia, depths of the target, and organ sites of target did not influence the accuracy of guidance using BMCPAD. The magnitude of body surface movement and organ movement exhibited mutual statistical correlation. CONCLUSIONS: The BMCPAD demonstrated guidance accuracy comparable to that of previously reported devices for CT-guided procedures. The analysis using simulated motion compensation revealed that body motion compensation and organ motion compensation individually impact the improvement in the accuracy of device-guided cryotherapy probe alignment. Considering the correlation between body and organ movements, we also determined that body motion compensation using the ring fiducial markers in the BMCPAD can be solely used to address both body and organ motions in MRI-guided cryotherapy.

Pharmacotherapy of anxiety disorders in the 21st century: A call for novel approaches.

While limited advances have occurred in the past 30 years in the pharmacological management of anxiety and stress-related disorders, novel molecular pathways both within and without the monoamine systems are currently under investigation and offer promising new avenues for more effective future treatments. Enhancing psychotherapy approaches with pharmacological compounds offers the potential to not only transform the standard of care of these conditions, but more broadly would introduce a paradigm shift in the way medications and their role in psychiatric care are conceptualised. Although further human trials and more translational research are sorely needed, continuing to pursue innovative mechanisms and treatments is hoped to yield substantial results in the coming decades and a departure from the reliance on chemical agents of the 20th century.

The Inpatient Assessment and Management of Motor Functional Neurological Disorders: An Interdisciplinary Perspective.

BACKGROUND: Motor functional neurologic disorders (FND)-previously termed "hysteria" and later "conversion disorder"-are exceedingly common and frequently encountered in the acute hospital setting. Despite their high prevalence, patients with motor FND can be challenging to diagnose accurately and manage effectively. To date, there is limited guidance on the inpatient approach to the neuropsychiatric evaluation of patients with functional (psychogenic) neurologic symptoms. OBJECTIVE: The authors outline an inpatient multidisciplinary approach, involving neurology, psychiatry, and physical therapy, for the assessment and acute inpatient management of motor FND. METHODS: A vignette of a patient with motor FND is presented followed by a discussion of general assessment principles. Thereafter, a detailed description of the neurologic and psychiatric assessments is outlined. Delivery of a "rule-in" diagnosis is emphasized and specific guidance for what can be accomplished postdiagnosis in the hospital is suggested. DISCUSSION: We encourage an interdisciplinary approach beginning at the early stages of the diagnostic assessment once an individual is suspected of having motor FND. CONCLUSIONS: Practical suggestions for the inpatient assessment of motor FND are presented. It is also important to individualize the diagnostic assessment. Future research should be conducted to test best practices for motor FND management in the acute inpatient hospital setting.

Motion compensation for MRI-compatible patient-mounted needle guide device: estimation of targeting accuracy in MRI-guided kidney cryoablations.

Patient-mounted needle guide devices for percutaneous ablation are vulnerable to patient motion. The objective of this study is to develop and evaluate a software system for an MRI-compatible patient-mounted needle guide device that can adaptively compensate for displacement of the device due to patient motion using a novel image-based automatic device-to-image registration technique. We have developed a software system for an MRI-compatible patient-mounted needle guide device for percutaneous ablation. It features fully-automated image-based device-to-image registration to track the device position, and a device controller to adjust the needle trajectory to compensate for the displacement of the device. We performed: (a) a phantom study using a clinical MR scanner to evaluate registration performance; (b) simulations using intraoperative time-series MR data acquired in 20 clinical cases of MRI-guided renal cryoablations to assess its impact on motion compensation; and (c) a pilot clinical study in three patients to test its feasibility during the clinical procedure. FRE, TRE, and success rate of device-to-image registration were 2.71 ± 2.29 mm, 1.74 ± 1.13 mm, and 98.3% for the phantom images. The simulation study showed that the motion compensation reduced the targeting error for needle placement from 8.2 mm to 5.4 mm (p < 0.0005) in patients under general anesthesia (GA), and from 14.4 mm to 10.0 mm (p < 1.0 × 10(−5)) in patients under monitored anesthesia care (MAC). The pilot study showed that the software registered the device successfully in a clinical setting. Our simulation study demonstrated that the software system could significantly improve targeting accuracy in patients treated under both MAC and GA. Intraprocedural image-based device-to-image registration was feasible.

A Novel Mixed Reality Navigation System for Laparoscopy Surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To design and validate a novel mixed reality head-mounted display for intraoperative surgical navigation. DESIGN: A mixed reality navigation for laparoscopic surgery (MRNLS) system using a head mounted display (HMD) was developed to integrate the displays from a laparoscope, navigation system, and diagnostic imaging to provide context-specific information to the surgeon. Further, an immersive auditory feedback was also provided to the user. Sixteen surgeons were recruited to quantify the differential improvement in performance based on the mode of guidance provided to the user (laparoscopic navigation with CT guidance (LN-CT) versus mixed reality navigation for laparoscopic surgery (MRNLS)). The users performed three tasks: (1) standard peg transfer, (2) radiolabeled peg identification and transfer, and (3) radiolabeled peg identification and transfer through sensitive wire structures. RESULTS: For the more complex task of peg identification and transfer, significant improvements were observed in time to completion, kinematics such as mean velocity, and task load index subscales of mental demand and effort when using the MRNLS (p < 0.05) compared to the current standard of LN-CT. For the final task of peg identification and transfer through sensitive structures, time taken to complete the task and frustration were significantly lower for MRNLS compared to the LN-CT approach. CONCLUSIONS: A novel mixed reality navigation for laparoscopic surgery (MRNLS) has been designed and validated. The ergonomics of laparoscopic procedures could be improved while minimizing the necessity of additional monitors in the operating room.

Delayed Posthypoxic Leukoencephalopathy: Improvement with Antioxidant Therapy.

INTRODUCTION: Delayed posthypoxic leukoencephalopathy (DPHL) may result from a variety of hypoxic insults, including respiratory depression from an opiate overdose. The underlying pathophysiological mechanism of DPHL remains uncertain. We describe a patient with a typical case of DPHL who responded clinically to antioxidant treatment. METHODS: Clinical, serological, and radiographic investigations were undertaken in the evaluation of the patient. RESULTS: A 63-year-old man developed altered mental status 10 days following recovery from an opiate overdose and aspiration pneumonia that required intubation. The clinical course and brain imaging were consistent with DPHL. Initiation of antioxidant therapy with vitamin E, vitamin C, B-complex vitamins, and coenzyme Q10 coincided with the prompt reversal of clinical deterioration. CONCLUSIONS: The potential therapeutic effect of antioxidants on DPHL needs to be explored in future cases. If this relationship indeed holds true, it would be consistent with the hypothesis that formation of reactive oxygen species during reperfusion plays a role in the pathophysiology of this disorder.

Tracked ultrasonography snapshots enhance needle guidance for percutaneous renal access: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although ultrasonography-guided percutaneous nephrostomy is relatively safe, a number of factors make it challenging for inexperienced operators. A computerized needle navigation technique using tracked ultrasonography snapshots was investigated to determine whether performance of percutaneous nephrostomy by inexperienced users could be improved. METHODS: Ten operators performed the procedure on a phantom model with alternating needle guidance between conventional ultrasonography and tracked ultrasonography snapshots. The needle was reinserted until fluid backflow confirmed calyceal access. Needle trajectories were recorded using the real time needle navigation system for offline evaluation of operator performance. Recorded needle trajectories were used to measure needle motion path length inside the phantom tissue, number of reinsertions, total procedure time, and needle insertion time as end points of this study. RESULTS: Needle path length measured inside the phantom tissue was significantly lower with ultrasonography snapshots guidance (295.0±23.1 mm, average±standard error of the mean) compared with control procedures (977.9±144.4 mm, P<0.01). This was associated with a significantly lower number of needle insertion attempts with ultrasonography snapshots (average 1.27±0.10 vs 2.83±0.31, P<0.01). The total procedure time and the needle insertion time were also significantly lower with ultrasonography snapshots guidance. CONCLUSION: Tracked ultrasonography snapshots appear to improve the performance of percutaneous nephrostomy in these preliminary investigations, justifying further validation studies. The presented navigation system is reproducible because of commercially available hardware and open-source software components, facilitating its potential role in clinical practice.

Spinal curvature measurement by tracked ultrasound snapshots.

Monitoring spinal curvature in adolescent kyphoscoliosis requires regular radiographic examinations; however, the applied ionizing radiation increases the risk of cancer. Ultrasound imaging is favored over radiography because it does not emit ionizing radiation. Therefore, we tested an ultrasound system for spinal curvature measurement, with the help of spatial tracking of the ultrasound transducer. Tracked ultrasound was used to localize vertebral transverse processes as landmarks along the spine to measure curvature angles. The method was tested in two scoliotic spine models by localizing the same landmarks using both ultrasound and radiographic imaging and comparing the angles obtained. A close correlation was found between tracked ultrasound and radiographic curvature measurements. Differences between results of the two methods were 1.27 ± 0.84° (average ± SD) in an adult model and 0.96 ± 0.87° in a pediatric model. Our results suggest that tracked ultrasound may become a more tolerable and more accessible alternative to radiographic spine monitoring in adolescent kyphoscoliosis.

The effects of aripiprazole on the subscales of the Kellner Symptom Questionnaire in treatment resistant depression.

We have recently examined the efficacy of low-dose aripiprazole augmentation for major depressive disorder (MDD), with modest nonsignificant benefit found. In a secondary investigation, we examined whether aripiprazole resulted in improvement in four subscales (depression, anxiety, somatic symptoms, and hostility) of the Kellner Symptom Questionnaire (KSQ). We reanalyzed data from the main outcome study on 221 MDD patients with inadequate response to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. Patients were randomized, using the sequential parallel comparison design, into two 30-day phases, as follows: drug/drug (aripiprazole 2 mg/day in phase 1, aripiprazole 5 mg/day in phase 2), placebo/drug (placebo in phase 1, aripiprazole 2 mg/day in phase 2), or placebo/placebo (placebo in both phases). We examined changes in the KSQ score from baseline to endpoint on the basis of the subscaled Well-being and Reversal Distressed Anxiety Subscales. The score for the KSQ depression subscale improved from baseline to the end of follow-up, with a significant advantage for aripiprazole over placebo (P=0.0327). Although improvement was also observed in the anxiety and hostility scales, neither attained a significant advantage over placebo; no significant change was observed for the somatization subscale. Aripiprazole augmentation resulted in a significant improvement compared with placebo augmentation only in the depression subscale of the KSQ; however, the low dose may not have been enough to have an impact on the anxiety and hostility scales. The good tolerability of the low dose may have resulted in the absence of worsening of somatic symptoms. Prospective studies are needed to better characterize the impact of low doses of aripiprazole augmentation on different manifestations of MDD.

Why current medical management is failing victims of Hurricane Katrina: a review of past successes and failures in postdisaster psychosocial treatment.

BACKGROUND: More than one year after Hurricane Katrina, victims exhibit symptoms of a "chronic disease," representing the disruption of psychosocial health. This systematic review assesses the effects of trauma on multiple domains of health following a disaster. METHOD: Authors searched disaster-related literature from 1971 to present, focusing on recent literature involving Hurricane Andrew and outcomes in nonphysical domains of health. Research relied mainly on PubMed, using keywords including "disaster," "hurricane," "psychosocial," "social," and "stress." RESULTS: Disaster victims are at risk for negative psychosocial health. Pre-Katrina, the majority of storm victims already exhibited several risk factors that made them candidates for low levels of health. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals affected by Hurricane Katrina, both those remaining in the Gulf Coast and evacuees, are at significant risk for low levels of psychosocial health. To prevent long-term health deficits in the region, a concerted effort of research and healthcare initiatives is needed as soon as possible.