Biological quantitative methods in the evaluation of psychiatric treatment: some biochemical criteria.

Journal Articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Regional cerebral blood flow and lateralized hemispheric dysfunction in depression.

Cerebral blood flow is known as an indicator of cerebral metabolism. Using the 133Xenon inhalation method, we studied the regional cerebral blood flow (r-CBF) in patients with different subtypes of depression and in remission. A left frontal hypervascularization and a right posterior hypovascularization were found in major depressives, compared to normal subjects, minor depressives, and normothymic bipolar patients. These results tend to confirm the existence of cerebral dysfunction in both hemispheres in major depression, as reported by other authors using different techniques.Journal Articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

A Belgian multicentre study of fluvoxamine in depressive outpatients

Fluvoxamine, a new antidepressant that specifically inhibits serotonin reuptake, was studied in 272 outpatients in a six-week multicentre trial in Belgium. On the Hamilton Depression Scale, the mean score dropped from 25.2 to 8 after six weeks (p<0.00001). The Clinical Global Impression scores showed similar evolution. Fluvoxamine is a real antidepressant with a marked effect on mood. Its effective dosage is 100 mg to 200 mg/day. Its tolerance, notably at the cardiovascular level, is excellent