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OBJECTIVE: To determine whether there are differences in verbal working memory amongst subjects with schizophrenia, their first degree relatives and controls, and to evaluate the influence of symptoms on these differences, as an initial step to assess whether this cognitive function is an endophenotype. METHODS: We examined 197 cases with schizophrenia, 197 first degree relatives and 200 controls through psychiatric interviews and the Letters and Numbers Sequencing test (LNS). Performance was compared among the three groups adjusting for age, sex and education level. Adjustment for "negative symptoms" and "disorganization" was performed afterwards. RESULTS: Subjects with schizophrenia showed lower performance in the LNS than their first degree relatives and the healthy controls; the effect sizes were 0.75 and 1.18 respectively. There was a small difference between relatives and controls (effect size =0.38). These differences were significant after adjustment for negative and disorganized symptoms, but the effect sizes became smaller: 0.26 for relatives vs. subjects with schizophrenia, 0.56 for controls vs. subjects with schizophrenia and 0.33 for relatives vs. controls. Among individuals with schizophrenia, performance in the LNS was not associated with disorder duration, disease onset age, antipsychotics, history of depressive episodes or substance use disorders. CONCLUSION: Results suggest verbal working memory may be considered as an endophenotype in schizophrenia.

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OBJECTIVE: A substantial number of patients treated with clozapine shows insufficient response. The author presents the results of adding aripiprazole in patients resistant to clozapine. METHOD: Three cases of individuals with psychotic symptoms despite clozapine use and with significant side effects that were treated via this combination are presented. Response was evaluated by clinical assessment. RESULTS: Good clinical results were obtained in all three patients, with improvement of psychotic symptoms and of some of the side effects of clozapine. CONCLUSION: The findings from this case series suggest that adjunctive therapy with aripiprazole can be of benefit for treating clozapine resistant schizophrenic patients.

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Thirty-two patients suffering from schizophrenia (according to DSM-III, and chronic evolution characteristics, have been studied for 10 years. All of them presented signs of schizophrenic deterioration. They had been institutionalized for five years at least, with no leave at all. Some trends of psychiatry highlighting schizophrenic deterioration as an irreversible residual phenomenon are referred to as well as the biological studies relating causitively deterioration to atrophic alterations of the brain. During research, combined features from both therapeutic, and rehabilitation techniques were administered to the population under study, namely: Individual Psychotherapy, Family Psychotherapy, Occupational Therapy, and biological treatments. Nine patients presented a paranoidical form of schizophrenia; 6, a disorganized form; 4, an indifferenciated form; 5, a residual form, and 5, a catatonic form. Close to the end of research, 22 patients were given their discharge certificate after recovery; two were discharged but came back to hospital for short admissions; four are still institutionalized with no improvement foreseen; two are still institutionalized, however at a rehabilitation stage. Finally, two patients passed away during research. It is the author's contention that these results show a symptomatic variability determining that 70% of cases considered as clinical observations are intended to be construed as a dynamic phenomenon--and not as a static-crystallized one.

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Se estudiaron durante diez años, 32 casos de pacientes con diagnóstico de esquizofrenia de acuerdo con el DSM III y las características de evolución crónica. Todos ellos presentaban signos de "deterioro" esquizofrénico y tenían por lo menos cinco años de internación sin ningún tipo de salida. Se mencionan algunas tendencias de la psiquiatria que destacan al "deterioro" como fenómeno residual irreversible, y los estudios biológicos que lo relacionan causalmente con alteraciones atróficas del cerebro. Durante el estudio se administraron medidas combinadas de terapéutica y rehabilitación: psicoterapia individual, familiar, terapia ocupacional y tratamiento biológicos. Del total de pacientes, 9 tenían la forma paranoide de esquizofrenia, 6 la desorganizada, 4 la indiferenciada, 5 la residual y 5 la catatónica. Sobre el final del estudio, 22 fueron dados de alta mejorados; 2 salen de alta y son reinternados por breves períodos; 4 permanecen internados sin mejoría; 4 permanecen pero en rehabilitación y mejorados; y dos de ellos fallecieron durante el período. Estos resultados dieron cuenta de una variabilidad sintomática que determinó el alta de casi el 70% de los casos que se consideraban como irreversibles. A partir de esto se intenta interpretar lo observado clínicamente como un fenómeno dinámico y no estático-cristalizado (AU)

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Se estudiaron durante diez años, 32 casos de pacientes con diagnóstico de esquizofrenia de acuerdo con el DSM III y las características de evolución crónica. Todos ellos presentaban signos de "deterioro" esquizofrénico y tenían por lo menos cinco años de internación sin ningún tipo de salida. Se mencionan algunas tendencias de la psiquiatria que destacan al "deterioro" como fenómeno residual irreversible, y los estudios biológicos que lo relacionan causalmente con alteraciones atróficas del cerebro. Durante el estudio se administraron medidas combinadas de terapéutica y rehabilitación: psicoterapia individual, familiar, terapia ocupacional y tratamiento biológicos. Del total de pacientes, 9 tenían la forma paranoide de esquizofrenia, 6 la desorganizada, 4 la indiferenciada, 5 la residual y 5 la catatónica. Sobre el final del estudio, 22 fueron dados de alta mejorados; 2 salen de alta y son reinternados por breves períodos; 4 permanecen internados sin mejoría; 4 permanecen pero en rehabilitación y mejorados; y dos de ellos fallecieron durante el período. Estos resultados dieron cuenta de una variabilidad sintomática que determinó el alta de casi el 70% de los casos que se consideraban como irreversibles. A partir de esto se intenta interpretar lo observado clínicamente como un fenómeno dinámico y no estático-cristalizado

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