Mauricio Mauricio Tohen

OBJECTIVE: Since stability of DSM-IV diagnoses of disorders with psychotic features requires validation, we evaluated psychotic patients followed systematically in the McLean-Harvard International First Episode Project.

METHOD: We diagnosed 517 patients hospitalized in a first psychotic illness by SCID-based criteria at baseline and at 24 months to assess stability of specific DSM-IV diagnoses.

RESULTS: Among 500 patients (96.7%) completing the study, diagnoses remained stable in 77.6%, ...

OBJECTIVE: A cavum between the septi pellucidi may reflect neurodevelopmental anomalies in midline structures of the brain. The authors examined cavum septi pellucidi in subjects with schizophrenia, affective disorder, and schizotypal personality disorder and in normal subjects.

METHOD: Thirty schizophrenic patients (15 chronic, 15 first-episode), 16 patients with affective disorder (first-episode), 21 patients with schizotypal personality disorder, and 46 normal subjects were evaluated ...

There are no rapid-acting intramuscular formulations of atypical antipsychotics available for quickly calming an agitated patient with bipolar disorder. In this study, 201 agitated patients with bipolar mania were randomly assigned to receive one to three injections of the atypical antipsychotic olanzapine (10 mg, first two injections; 5 mg, third injection), the benzodiazepine lorazepam (2 mg, first two injections; 1 mg, third injection), or placebo (placebo, first two injections; ...

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the 12-week outcomes (effectiveness, tolerability, and patterns of medication use) of olanzapine (either in antimanic monotherapy or in combination with other antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, and/or lithium) in patients with bipolar mania or mixed mania.

METHOD: EMBLEM (European Mania in Bipolar Longitudinal Evaluation of Medication) is a 24-month prospective observational study of in- and outpatients with acute mania/mixed mania conducted in 14 European ...

OBJECTIVE: Few long-term studies have compared the efficacy and safety of typical and atypical antipsychotic medications directly in patients with a first episode of psychosis who met the criteria for schizophrenia or a related psychotic disorder. This study compared the acute and long-term effectiveness of haloperidol with that of olanzapine in patients with first-episode psychosis in a large, controlled clinical trial.

METHOD: Patients with first-episode psychosis (N=263) were randomly ...

OBJECTIVE: The authors compared the efficacy of olanzapine and lithium in the prevention of mood episode relapse/recurrence.

METHOD: Patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder (manic/mixed), a history of two or more manic or mixed episodes within 6 years, and a Young Mania Rating Scale total score > or =20 entered the study and received open-label co-treatment with olanzapine and lithium for 6-12 weeks. Those meeting symptomatic remission criteria (Young Mania Rating Scale score < or ...

OBJECTIVE: The effect of antipsychotic medication on neurocognitive function remains controversial, especially since most previous work has compared the effects of novel antipsychotic medications with those of high doses of conventional medications. This study compares the neurocognitive effects of olanzapine and low doses of haloperidol in patients with first-episode psychosis.

METHOD: Patients with a first episode of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophreniform disorder ...

OBJECTIVE: The effects of olanzapine and divalproex for the treatment of mania were compared in a large randomized clinical trial.

METHOD: A 3-week, randomized, double-blind trial compared flexibly dosed olanzapine (5-20 mg/day) to divalproex (500-2500 mg/day in divided doses) for the treatment of patients hospitalized for acute bipolar manic or mixed episodes. The Young Mania Rating Scale and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale were used to quantify manic and depressive symptoms, ...

BACKGROUND: In chronic schizophrenia, the P300 is broadly reduced and shows a localized left temporal deficit specifically associated with reduced gray matter volume of the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (STG). In first-episode patients, a similar left temporal P300 deficit is present in schizophrenia, but not in affective psychosis. The present study investigated whether the left temporal P300-left posterior STG volume association is selectively present in first-episode ...

BACKGROUND: A 6-week double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial was conducted to determine the efficacy of combined therapy with olanzapine and either valproate or lithium compared with valproate or lithium alone in treating acute manic or mixed bipolar episodes.

METHODS: The primary objective was to evaluate the efficacy of olanzapine (5-20 mg/d) vs placebo when added to ongoing mood-stabilizer therapy as measured by reductions in Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) scores. Patients ...

OBJECTIVES: Unipolar and bipolar depression differ neurobiologically and in clinical presentation. Existing depression rating instruments, used in bipolar depression, fail to capture the necessary phenomenological nuances, as they are based on and skewed towards the characteristics of unipolar depression. Both clinically and in research there is a growing need for a new observer-rated scale that is specifically designed to assess bipolar depression.

METHODS: An instrument reflecting the ...

OBJECTIVE: It has been hypothesized that the morbidity and mortality associated with schizophrenia can be prevented by providing effective treatment during the first episode of psychosis. Hence, the authors examined patients with first-episode psychosis to determine the efficacy and safety of olanzapine and haloperidol treatment.

METHOD: A subpopulation of first-episode patients (N=83) from a large prospective, multicenter, international, double-blind, 6-week acute treatment study was ...

BACKGROUND: Improving patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL) could be a treatment goal for bipolar depression.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of these secondary analyses of a previous report were to determine the benefits of olanzapine alone and olanzapine-fluoxetine combination (OFC) for improving HRQOL in patients with bipolar depression using both a generic and a depression-specific HRQOL instrument, and to examine the association between the 2 HRQOL instruments and the ...