While the therapeutic efficacy of antipsychotic drugs is not in doubt, a variety of undesirable side effects are common. They can be a disincentive to good compliance with treatment, resulting in increased possibilities for relapse and hospitalization. They can be distressing and disabling and thus interfering with patient safety and quality of life. Furthermore, they may be counter-therapeutic by exacerbating the condition that the drug was prescribed for. In this article, we will provide an overview of management of antipsychotic-induced side effects, with a particular emphasis on the most common side effects as well as less common but serious side effects. In addition, some practical issues regarding the management of side effects will b discussed.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Compliance ; Hospitalization ; Motivation ; Patient Safety ; Quality of Life ; Recurrence

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the pattern of psychiatric consultation-liaison in a new general hospital over a 5-year period. METHOD: Retrospective chart review was conducted for psychiatric consultations performed from May 2004 to December 2008 in a new general hospital in Hwasun, Korea. RESULTS: A total of 1,852 patients who were referred to the Department of Psychiatry for consultation were included in the analysis. The main reasons for psychiatric consultation were changes in mental status(20.5%), depression(16.8%), insomnia(12.8%), and anxiety(7.9%). Psychiatric consultations were conducted with diagnoses of delirium(39.7%), depressive disorder(28.2%), adjustment disorder(7.9%), and anxiety disorder(4.1%). Patients with delirium were significantly older than were those with other psychiatric diagnoses(p<0.001). Delirium was more common in male patients than in female patients(47.1% vs. 29.9%, respectively), and depression was more common in female patients than in male patients(48.3% vs. 33.9%, respectively)(p<0.001). Delirium was more common in patients who underwent surgical operation than those who did not(p=0.010). CONCLUSION: Delirium was the most common diagnosis for psychiatric consultation followed by depression in a university hospital. Delirium was more prevalent in men than in women, while depression was more common in women.
Anxiety ; Delirium ; Depression ; Female ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Male ; Referral and Consultation ; Retrospective Studies

OBJECTIVES: Daytime drowsiness or sedation and changes in night sleep are commonly seen in patients treated with clozapine. There is, however, very limited informatio on their degree and nature during the course of treatment. The purpose of this study was to understand the sleep patterns in chronic schizophrenic patients with clozapine treatment over a period of 24 weeks. METHOD: The sleep pattern was evaluated using a set of 5-point scale questionnaire, to record subjective impressions of the night sleep induction, maintenance and quality, and daytime drowsiness and fatigue. In addition, unusual experiences associated with night sleep were recorded. The sleep questionnaire was repeatedly administered at baseline and at 1, 2, 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks of drug treatment. At present, data on 12 patients has been collected. RESULTS: All the components of night sleep were significantly improved in th 1st through the 12 th week after treatment with clozapine. Daytime drowsiness was significantly higher in the 1st to the 2nd week after the treatment and fatigue was also significantly higher in the 1st to the 4th week after the treatment. Eight patients experienced noticeable increases in salivation during night sleep, and of these, one also reported frequent nocturnal urination and even enuresis. However, all these adverse factors did not affect the major sleep patterns. CONCLUSIONS: These finding suggest that the beneficial effects of clozapine on night sleep might last much longer than the undesirable effect of daytime drowsiness and fatigue. In other words, tolerance of the hypnotic action of clozapine might develop late and tolerance of the daytime drowsiness and fatigue might be evident earlier.
Clozapine* ; Enuresis ; Fatigue ; Humans ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Salivation ; Sleep Stages ; Urination

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is currently used as a degreasing agent in the jewelry manufacturing industry. The characteristic sign arising after the exposure of TCE are hepatitis and contact dermatitis. The incidence of toxicity is relatively rare, therefore, the mechanism of occurrence is considered as hypersensitivity. A previously healthy 21-year-old male began to work at jewelry industry. The solvent used in that place was TCE. Over the next month, he experienced symptoms of weakness, fever, dry skin, red rash and bumps, peeling face, and jaundice. At that time, he had marked liver enzyme elevation with evidence of cholestasis. After two weeks of avoidance of TCE exposure, his liver enzymes showed a marked reduction in ALT from a peak of 1132 to 131 IU/L. The total bilirubin reduced from 9.3 to 4.6 mg/dL. Tests for hepatitis A, B, and C, CMV, HIV were all negative. The patch test showed primary irritant reaction to TCE and its metabolite, trichloroethanol. This is the second report of TCE induced hepatotoxicity in Korea. We consider this case as a TCE induced hepatotoxicity due to possibly hypersensitivity mechanism.
Bilirubin ; Cholestasis ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Exanthema ; Fever ; Hepatitis A ; Hepatitis* ; HIV ; Humans ; Hypersensitivity ; Incidence ; Jaundice ; Jewelry ; Korea ; Liver ; Male ; Occupational Exposure* ; Patch Tests ; Skin ; Trichloroethylene ; Young Adult

Pseudohypoparathyroidism is a medical disorder characterized by a complex disorder of renal resistance to parathyroid hormone and the mechanism underlying the disease is still unclear. The authors described two cases of pseudohypoparathyroidism in sibling,who had metabolic anomalies(hypocalcemia and hyperphosphatemia, high circulatin immunoreactive PTH)and basal ganglia calcification. Bilateral basal ganglia calcifications, which was not visible on plain skull film, was detected by CT scan of brain MRI. We report these cases with a review of related literatures.
Basal Ganglia ; Brain ; Humans ; Hyperphosphatemia ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Parathyroid Hormone ; Pseudohypoparathyroidism* ; Siblings* ; Skull ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

No abstract available.
Constriction, Pathologic*

A wide range of denomination has been used for inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT). IMT is not entirely homogeneous, even though it shows some overlapping histologic features such as haphazard proliferation of spindle cell and polymorphic chronic inflammatory cell infiltraion. The spindle cell is considered to be of myofibroblastic origin but follicular dendritic cell origin was reported recently. IMT is known as nonneoplastic, aberrant inflammatory response. However, IMT could show local invasion, recurrence, vascular invasion, and malignant transformation, and clonal characteristics and aneuploidy of IMT support the hypothesis that IMT may be a neoplastic process. In order to define the nature of spindle cell of IMT, immunohistochemical stains for smooth muscle actin (SMA), vimentin (VMT), lysozyme, S-100 protein, cytokeratin, CD21 were done. Additional immunohistochemical stains for MIB-1 for proliferating activity and LMP (latent membrane protein) for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) were done. IMTs were composed of each 2 cases from lung, liver and lymph node and one case from common bile duct, maxillary sinus, bladder and thigh, and were histologically subclassified according to Coffin et al. Nine cases (90%) were positive for SMA and VMT, but no correlation between SMA and VMT immunoreactivity and histologic types was identified. Five cases (50%) were positive for lysozyme and S-100 protein, and histologic type III was negative for lysozyme and S-100 protein, and immunoreactivity for S-100 protein was different according to the histologic subtypes. All 11 cases were negative for CD21 and EBV LMP. MIB-1 labelling index was less than 1% in all cases. In summary, the spindle cell is regarded as myofibroblastic origin rather than follicular dendritic cell origin. Relationship with EBV is not clear, and negligible MIB-1 reaction suggests that IMT might have a good prognosis.
Actins ; Aneuploidy ; Coloring Agents ; Common Bile Duct ; Dendritic Cells, Follicular ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratins ; Liver ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Maxillary Sinus ; Membranes ; Muramidase ; Muscle, Smooth ; Myofibroblasts* ; Prognosis ; Recurrence ; S100 Proteins ; Thigh ; Urinary Bladder ; Vimentin

OBJECTIVE: This study was done to explore the determinants of care burden of Korean caregiver in patients with dementia. METHODS: For the seventy-nine patients with dementia and their caregivers, data on Caregiver Burden Inventory Korean version, and various patient- and caregiver related factors potentially related to care burden were investigated. Uni- or bi-variate analyses were performed to measure the relationships between individual factors and care burden, and then stepwise multiple linear regression tests were used to determine the independent risk factors. RESULTS: Two determinants of care burden were identified: 'severer depressive symptoms in patient' and 'lower spontaneous care motivation in caregiver'. Of the patient related factors, 'shorter disease duration', 'severer behavioral and psychotic symptoms' and'severer anxiety symptoms', and of the caregiver related factors,'women','having household responsibility', 'shorter free time' and'worse subjective health state' were related to care burden, although these were not identified as independent risk factors. CONCLUSION: To mitigate the care burden of Korean caregivers in patients with dementia, therapeutic interventions focused on the behavioral and psychological symptoms of patients would be essential in terms of patient related factors. With respect to caregiver related factors, in addition to the succession of the philosophy of filial piety, establishment of multi-modal services and facilities suitable for the caregivers vulnerable to care burden would be needed.
Anxiety ; Caregivers* ; Dementia* ; Depression ; Family Characteristics ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Motivation ; Philosophy ; Risk Factors

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluated the effects of alcohol on neurocognitive function, psychomotor performance and subjective response in healthy Korean adults with different ALDH2 genotypes. METHOD: A total of 24 males, half with active ALDH2*1/2*1 and the other with inactive ALDH2*1/2*1, was selected through genotyping using restriction fragment length polymorphism. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over design, each subject consumed 0.5g/kg dose of alcohol, given as a mixture of 40% vodka and orange juice, and placebo(orange juice) on two separate occasions on an average of weekly intervals. The blood alcohol concentrations(BACs) were measured using a breath analyzer at baseline and at 30, 60 minutes after drinking. P300s were measured at baseline and at 30 minutes after alcohol and placebo intake. Vital signs and psychomotor performance[Critical Flicker Fusion Threshold(CFFT), Choice Reaction Time(CRT), Digit Symbol Substitution(DSS)] were measured at baseline and at 60 minutes after alcohol and placebo intake. Subjective responses were measured at the end of the study. The statistical analysis focused on whether there were any differences between groups with different ALDH2 genotypes. RESULTS: The major results are as follows. 1) BACs in inactive group were overall equivalent to those in the active group. Only in terms of time, BACs were significantly higher overall at 30 minutes than at 60 minutes after alcohol intake. 2) Pulse rates were significantly increased after alcohol intake compared with placebo, and the increase was greater in the inactive than in the active group. 3) P300 latencies in leads Fz(frontal), Cz(cental) and Pz(parietal) were significantly increased after alcohol intake compared to placebo, and the increase was greater in the inactive than in the active group. P300 amplitudes in leads Cz and Pz were significantly decreased overall after alcohol intake compared to placebo. 4) Compared with placebo, alcohol produced significant effect on the psychomotor performance : impairment in the inactive group, improvement in the active group. 5) Compared with placebo, alcohol significantly induced a negative or an intense effect on the subjective responses in the inactive group, but little negative and even a somewhat positive effect in the active group. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ALDH isozyme variance might be an important factor to determine the effects of acute dose of alcohol on the various psychobehavioural functions and also to determine the alcohol use pattern and to predict the future development of alcohol overuse and/or abuse.
Adult ; Citrus sinensis ; Cross-Over Studies ; Drinking ; Flicker Fusion ; Genotype* ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Male ; Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length ; Psychomotor Performance* ; Vital Signs

OBJECTIVES: This study compared attitudes toward antipsychotic treatment according to awareness of the name of their illness in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: Information on sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, including awareness of the importance of antipsychotic treatment, was obtained through a self-report questionnaire. The Drug Attitude Inventory (DAI) was administered. The data were compared according to awareness of the name of their illness. RESULTS: The study analyzed data for 199 patients with schizophrenia. Of these, 115 patients (57.8%) were aware that their illness was called schizophrenia, while 84 patients (42.2%) knew it by their psychotic symptoms or as another mental illness, such as depression. The patients aware of the name of their illness had significantly longer durations of illness and higher scores on the DAI. They were significantly more likely to have stopped taking medication on their own accord and to agree with the importance of antipsychotic treatment. Statistical significance was sustained in a logistic regression analysis after adjusting for the duration of illness and study site, except for the DAI score, which had borderline significance (p=0.055). In subjects with duration of illness > or =5 years, patients aware of the name of their illness had significantly higher scores on the DAI. CONCLUSION: Awareness of the name of their illness was associated with awareness of the importance of, and a positive attitude toward, antipsychotic treatments in patients. Psycho-education, including telling the patient the correct name of his or her illness, might be needed for maintaining antipsychotic treatment in patients with chronic schizophrenia.
Antipsychotic Agents ; Depression ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Schizophrenia