Treatment-resistant schizophrenia characterised by dopamine supersensitivity psychosis and efficacy of asenapine

Dopamine supersensitivity psychosis (DSP) frequently arises with long-term antipsychotic treatment and accounts for a significant proportion of treatment-resistant schizophrenia. The mechanism underlying DSP is thought to be a compensatory increase in dopamine receptor density in the striatum caused by long-term antipsychotic treatment. Previous animal studies have reported that antipsychotics increase serotonin 5-HT2A receptor density in the striatum and that 5-HT2A receptor blockers suppress dopamine-sensitive psychomotor activity, which may be linked to the pathophysiology of DSP. In this paper, we describe a patient who was hospitalised with treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Following treatment with high-dose antipsychotic polypharmacy for 10 weeks, the patient experienced worsening of psychotic and extrapyramidal symptoms. The patient was then started on second-generation antipsychotic asenapine while other antipsychotics were tapered off, resulting in improvement of these symptoms. Retrospectively, we presumed that the high-dose antipsychotic polypharmacy caused DSP, which was effectively treated by the potent 5-HT2A receptor antagonism of asenapine

Impact of renal dysfunction on the choice of diagnostic imaging, treatment strategy, and outcomes in patients with stable angina

We investigated the interaction between the prognostic impact of a decrease in eGFR and the choice of initial diagnostic imaging modality for coronary artery disease. Out of 2878 patients who enrolled in the J-COMPASS study, 2780 patients underwent single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), coronary computed tomography (CT) angiography, or coronary angiography (CAG) as an initial diagnostic test. After excluding patients with routine hemodialysis or lacked serum creatinine levels, 2096 patients in the non-decreased eGFR group (eGFR ≥ 60 ml/min/1.73 m²) and 557 patients in the decreased eGFR group (eGFR < 60 ml/min/1.73 m²) were analyzed in this study. Major adverse cardiac events, including death, myocardial infarction, heart failure hospitalization, and late revascularization, were followed, with a median follow-up duration of 472 days. SPECT or CAG was preferable to CT in patients in the decreased eGFR group (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0024, respectively). There was a marginally significant interaction between the prognostic impact of a decrease in eGFR and the choice of diagnostic imaging modality (interaction-p = 0.056). A decrease in eGFR was not associated with a poor outcome in patients who underwent CT, while a decrease in eGFR was associated with poor outcomes in patients who underwent SPECT or CAG. In conclusion, the prognostic impact of a decrease in eGFR tended to be different among the initial imaging modalities

Association of coronary revascularisation after physician-referred non-invasive diagnostic imaging tests with outcomes in patients with suspected coronary artery disease: a post hoc subgroup analysis

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the association of the prognostic impact of coronary revascularisation with physician-referred non-invasive diagnostic imaging tests (single photon emission CT (SPECT) vs coronary CT angiography) for coronary artery disease. Design: A post hoc analysis of a subgroup from the patient cohort recruited for the Japanese Coronary-Angiography or Myocardial Imaging for Angina Pectoris Study. Setting: Multiple centres in Japan. Participants: From the data of 2780 patients with stable angina, enrolled prospectively between January 2006 and March 2008 in Japan, who had undergone physician-referred non-invasive imaging tests, 1205 patients with SPECT as an initial strategy and 625 with CT as an initial strategy were analysed. We assessed the effect of revascularisation (within 90 days) in each diagnostic imaging stratum and the interaction between the two strata. Primary and secondary outcome measures: Major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), including death, myocardial infarction, hospitalisation for heart failure and late revascularisation, were followed up for 1 year. The χ2 test, Student’s t-test, Kaplan-Meier analysis, log-rank test and multivariable Cox proportional hazard model were used in data analysis. Results: A total of 210 (17.4%) patients in the SPECT stratum and 149 (23.8%) in the CT stratum underwent revascularisation. Although in each stratum, the cumulative 1 year incidence of MACEs was significantly higher in patients who underwent revascularisation than in those who did not (SPECT stratum: 9.1 vs 1.2%, log-rank p<0.0001; CT stratum: 6.1 vs 0.8%, log-rank p=0.0001), there was no interaction between the risk of revascularisation and the imaging strata (SPECT stratum: adjusted HR (95% CI), 4.25 (1.86–9.72); CT stratum: 4.13 (1.16–14.73); interaction: p=0.97). Conclusion: The association of revascularisation with the outcomes of patients with suspected coronary artery disease was not different between SPECT-first and CT-first strategies in a physician-referred fashion

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Neurodevelopmental outcomes at 3 years old for infants with birth weights under 500 g

Marked improvements have been achieved in the survival of extremely low birth weight infants, but survival rates and prognoses of extremely small infants with birth weights ≤500 g remain poor. The aim of this study was to clarify long-term outcomes for surviving infants with birth weights ≤500 g. Methods: The study population comprised fetuses of gestational age ≥22 weeks, expected live- or stillbirth weight ≤500 g, and birth date between 2003 and 2012. Developmental assessments were performed prospectively at 3 years old. Results: Data were obtained for 21 fetuses, including 10 live births and 11 stillbirths. Of the 10 live births, median gestational age was 25.2 weeks (range, 22.4–27.1 weeks), median birth weight was 426 g (range, 370–483 g), and two neonates died before discharge. One infant with severe asphyxia died within 12 h and another infant with Down syndrome died at 34 days. The survival rate was thus 80%. All surviving infants were small for gestational age. Seven of the 8 surviving infants (88%) weighed less than 2500 g at a corrected age of 40 weeks. Seven infants were available for developmental assessments at 3 years old. One infant could not be followed. Two of those seven infants (29%) showed normal development, three infants (42%) showed mild neurodevelopmental disability, and two infants (29%) showed severe neurodevelopmental disability. One infant had periventricular leukomalacia and cerebral palsy. Two of the seven infants (29%) had short stature (<3 SD) at 3 years old. Conclusion: Although the survival rate among live births was good (80%) in this study, neurodevelopmental outcomes remained poor in infants with birth weights ≤500 g. Further large studies are needed to assess long-term outcomes for extremely small infants

Stress thallium-201 transaxial emission computed tomography: Quantitative versus qualitative analysis for evaluation of coronary artery disease

Stress thallium-201 myocardial distribution was quantitatively evaluated by emission transaxial tomography in 104 patients who underwent coronary arteriography. The initial uptake and percent washout of thallium were assessed by the circumferential profile curves of the three short-axis sections and one middle right anterior oblique long-axis section. This quantitative tomographic analysis showed abnormal distribution in all but two patients (98%) with coronary artery disease, whereas qualitative analysis showed abnormality in 76 of the patients (93%).Quantitative analysis showed better sensitivity (91%) for detecting involved coronary vessels than qualitative analysis (80%, p < 0.01), especially in three vessel disease (82 versus 67%, p < 0.05). For localization of individual vessel involvement, quantitative analysis showed high sensitivity (right coronary artery: 96%, left anterior descending artery: 90% and left circumflex artery: 88%) as compared with qualitative analysis (88, 83 and 63%, respectively, p < 0.05), while similar specificity was observed (92% for quantitative and 93% for qualitative analyses). Furthermore, in the study of patients without infarction, myocardial segments supplied by coronary vessels with moderate stenosis (51 to 75%) revealed abnormality more often with quantitative (81%) than with qualitative (56%) analysis.Thus, quantitative analysis of stress thallium emission tomography provides improved sensitivity for the detection of diseased coronary vessels in patients with three vessel disease and those with moderate stenosis. It is a valuable technique for the evaluation of coronary artery disease