Joseph K Stanilla

BACKGROUND: Akathisia has been reported to predict more severe symptoms and poorer treatment response to typical neuroleptics among patients with schizophrenia. Akathisia has also been associated with symptom exacerbation. This study addressed four questions: 1) Does akathisia predict greater severity in global psychopathology? 2) Is this effect global or specific? 3) Does clozapine treatment alter this relationship? 4) Does severity of psychopathology covary with the level of ...

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the relative efficacy of three different doses of clozapine.

METHOD: Fifty patients who met Kane et al.'s criteria for treatment-refractory schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were studied. All subjects were randomly assigned to 100, 300, or 600 mg/day of clozapine for 16 weeks of double-blind treatment. Forty-eight patients completed this first 16 weeks. Of the 50 patients, 36 went on to second and third 16-week trials of double-blind treatment at ...

This cross-sectional survey attempts to establish the prevalence of polydipsia and water intoxication at a state hospital (N = 360) using staff diagnosis, specific gravity of the urine (SPGU), weight changes, and chart review. There were 150 [42%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 37-47%] patients diagnosed as polydipsic by the staff or by SPGU. At least 93 (26%, CI 21-30%) had primary polydipsia not explained by other causes. Chart review identified 17 (5%, CI 3-7%) patients with a history ...

Neuroleptic-induced tardive dyskinesia (TD) negatively impacts the quality of life for persons with schizophrenia. While no satisfactory treatment is available for TD, a growing body of literature suggests the efficacy of clozapine in reducing TD. This paper describes the efficacy of clozapine in reducing TD in relation to the variables of treatment duration and dosage. Eighteen schizophrenic patients were categorized as with and five as without probable TD, and a pattern of reversible ...

Misidentification syndromes represent false, delusionally-based identification of self and/or others. These are variants of the Capgras Syndrome. Although the frequency of misidentification syndromes in schizophrenic populations has not yet been established, the authors believe this syndrome is more prevalent than previously described. Seven of twenty-five (28%) consecutive patients admitted to a chronic clozapine unit with a variant of misidentification syndrome will be described. Their ...

The diurnal and weekly variability of tardive dyskinesia (TD) was assessed instrumentally by digital image processing. Weekly assessments were obtained in ten patients over a 6-week period. In six of the ten patients, assessments were obtained four times over a single 12-h period. Results indicate that TD movements measured by instrumental assessment vary from week to week and throughout the day. Factors that appear to have affected the variability were changes in medications and the ...