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In the present study, the quantities of infectious medical wastes, generated from 12 public hospitals supervised by the 2nd Health Region Administration of Central Macedonia, Northern Greece, were calculated at a very disaggregated level for the first time and were compared to other reported characterization studies. Data was recorded by using an appropriately designed questionnaire, which was completed for each day of one week, in every department, clinic, unit or laboratory of each one of the 12 aforementioned hospitals. Afterwards, average generation indexes were determined in relation to certain important organizational and functional factors, such as the number of beds, bed coverage, the different hospital sections and wards, and the type of hospital. The way that sources of infectious wastes, generated from hospitals, vary by ward and department, was also illustrated and the most important sources were identified. Generated infectious hospital wastes vary from 0.26 to 0.89 kg/bed/day or 0.51 to 1.22 kg/patient/day, excluding the three specialised hospitals of the Health Region. The total amount of medical waste generated from the 2nd Health Region (only public hospitals) was estimated to be 691 tonnes/yr or 0.73 kg/cap/yr.

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OBJECTIVE: To study the epidemiology of acute poisoning patients presenting to an acute medical service ward in a Greek hospital between January 1998 and December 2000. DESIGN: Prospective case series. RESULTS: A total of 273 patients with self-poisoning were included in the study. This represented 3.8% of the overall admissions to the unit. The mean age of patients was 33, the most frequent age group being that aged 20-30 years (36.2% of total) with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.97. Sixty per cent of patients was admitted within 4 h. Those from urban areas comprised 76.2% and 23.8% from rural areas. The most frequently ingested agents were psychopharmaceuticals (37.4%) and analgesics/anti-rheumatics (32.6%). Pesticides (7.7% of total) were most frequently used by patients coming from rural areas (32.3% of patients from rural areas). Alcohol was included in the overdose in 8.4%. Of the patients, 16.2% had a previous history of overdose. In this case series, psychiatric assessment suggested that 52% of the patients had a formal psychotic diagnosis, 21% had personality disorder and 27% had taken an overdose in response to stress. The most frequently documented precipitating factors were family problems and disputes (37%). Unusually, the seasonal distribution in these patients suggested a peak in summer (37.5% of presentations) with lower numbers in spring (30.2%), autumn (17.7%) and winter (14.6%). Of the patients, 23.7% presented in July. A total of 73.5% of patients was conscious, 16.4% was somnolent, 4.5% was in precoma and 5.6% was in coma (GCS <8). Patients who received antidotal therapy comprised 17.9%. Evidence of hepatic dysfunction was observed in 8.9% of patients and renal dysfunction in 3.6%. Extracorporeal techniques for drug removal (hemodialysis and hemoperfusion) were used in 2.2% of patients. Intensive care therapy was required in 11.4% of patients. The mean overall hospitalization time was 3.3 days. The mortality rate was 2.9%. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the epidemiology of self-harm by overdose in Greece is significantly different in terms of the seasonal presentation from other parts of Europe. The agents ingested and other features are similar to northern Europe. Psychiatric diagnoses are more common in our group than in those reported from northern Europe.

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There are some indications that zolpidem is open to potential abuse. We present four cases of former drug or alcohol abusers with personality disorders, who all developed dependence on zolpidem in high dose.

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A 37-year-old woman with a personality disorder and chronic dysthymia developed a dependence on MAOIs. She ingested 440 mg tranylcypromine daily without any side-effects while taking no dietary precautions. The features of MAOI dependence and their resemblance to amphetamine dependence are discussed.

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Modern reports on lycanthropy mainly concentrate on the content of patients' beliefs in being transformed into an animal. By contrast, an interest in the form of the symptomatology is usually minimal. This paper draws on Karl Jaspers' phenomenological views and focuses on some important albeit neglected psychopathological issues related to form which are relevant to any comprehensive consideration of lycanthropic phenomena.

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We measured serum thyroid hormone levels, and pre- and post-TRH administration serum thyrotropin (TSH) in 46 psychiatric inpatients with major depression (n = 20), anxiety disorder (n = 9), and anxious depression (n = 17), and in 56 healthy subjects. Basal serum triiodothyronine was lower in female patients with major depression and anxious depression than in healthy women (P less than 0.05). Basal serum thyroxine was lower in female patients with anxious depression than in controls; all patients showed lower basal serum TSH than controls. In healthy subjects, basal triiodothyronine and thyroxine, basal TSH, and delta TSH (the increment of TSH after TRH administration) correlated, whereas no correlation was found between triiodothyronine and thyroxine in male patients with major depression, or between TSH and delta TSH in female patients with major depression or anxious depression. In female patients, 45% with major depression, 25% with anxiety disorder, and 35% with anxious depression showed a blunted TSH response. We also investigated pre- and post-dexamethasone administration cortisol levels in these patients. The sensitivity obtained by the combination of the results of the TRH and dexamethasone suppression tests for major depression, anxiety disorder, and anxious depression was 45%, 55%, and 65%, respectively.

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