Encephale
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Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a brain stimulation technique that has been investigated as a novel treatment for psychiatric disorders, notably in major depression, and has shown statistically significant effects. The authors found it necessary to propose an up-to-date review of positive predictors for antidepressive response to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. ⋯ Parameters of stimulation must be adapted according to the treated patients. For example, older patients who present cortical atrophy need higher intensity of stimulation. Other criteria could influence effectiveness of rTMS in the same way. Would it be necessary, for example, to adapt the duration or the intensity of stimulation according to the severity of the depressive episode or its duration of evolution? Do antecedents of resistance to a pharmacological treatment oblige us to stimulate differently? Few studies exceed 10 days of treatment; will longer duration of treatment be more effective? Also, we did not find any data on the interest of maintenance treatment among responders. Should the characteristics of the depressive disorder or its evolution require maintenance treatment? What will be its rhythm and its duration? Should we adapt rTMS parameters to abnormalities highlighted by functional neuroimagery? The prospects for work remain numerous.
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Blast injuries are psychologically and physically devastating. Notably, primary blast injury occurs as a direct effect of changes in atmospheric pressure caused by a blast wave. The combat-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI) resulting from exposure to explosions is highly prevalent among military personnel who have served in current wars. Traumatic brain injury is a common cause of neurological damage and disability among civilians and servicemen. Most patients with TBI suffer a mild traumatic brain injury with transient loss of consciousness. A controversial issue in the field of head injury is the outcome of concussion. ⋯ Cerebral imaging will allow the mechanisms concerned in cranial trauma to be better understood and thus may allow these mechanisms to be linked with co-morbid post-traumatic psychiatric disorders such as depression. The pyschopathological approach provides supplementary enlightenment where neuroimaging studies struggle to establish precise anatomoclinical correlations between neurotraumatic lesions, state of post-traumatic stress, and PCS. Moving away from a purely scientific view to focus on subjectivity, PCS can establish itself in subjects with no history of head trauma thus showing purely psychic suffering. Is the former name of "subjective post-head injury syndrome" no longer pertinent since the neurobiological affections can be objectified? Yet, the latter does not necessarily explain the somatic symptoms. Beyond any opposition of a psychic or somatic causality, it shows the complexity of this interaction. Admittedly, looking for a neuropathological affection is particularly cardinal to propose an aetiological model and objectify the lesions, which should be documented using a forensic approach. However, within the context of treatment, this theoretical division of the brain and the mind becomes less operative: the psychotherapeutic support will on the contrary back the indivisibility of the subject, he/she, who faced the "clatter".
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The use of psychoactive drugs by militaries is not compatible with the analytical skills and self-control required by their jobs. Military physicians take this problem into consideration by organising systematic drugs screening in the French forces. However, for technical reasons, opiates are not concerned by this screening with the agreement of the people concerned. The estimated number of militaries who use an opiate substitute may be an approach of heroin consumption in the French forces. This study describes buprenorphine and methadone reimbursements made during 2007 by the national military healthcare centre to French militaries. ⋯ In our observation, the military physician is almost always excluded the process of substitution. His/her different responsibilities of care, but also in determining the working aptitude, lead to dissimulation behaviour by the militaries. The difficulty for military physicians is to identify such consumption. They have to evaluate the capacity to work through a physical and psychological examination.
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Dysphagia is a common symptom in the general population, and even more among psychiatric patients, but rarely seen as a sign of seriousness. It is a cause of death by suffocation, and more or less serious complications, and therefore should be diagnosed and treated. Among psychiatric patients, organic and iatrogenic aetiologies, as well as risk factors are identified, which worsen this symptom when associated. It is now accepted that neuroleptics can aggravate or cause dysphagia. They act by several pathophysiological ways on the different components of swallowing, which can be identified by dynamic tests in the upper aerodigestive tract endoscopy. ⋯ The swallowing disorder caused by neuroleptics may occur regardless of the molecule or drug class to which it belongs. It can be found even in the absence of any other neurological signs. It is important to search for the aetiological diagnosis for treatment. At the crossroads of several specialties, swallowing disorders are difficult to diagnose and treat. They are frequently underestimated, partly because patients rarely complain. In our case report, the diagnosis was ascertained by the removal of the medication, without functional evidence, probably by a lack of collaboration between the physician and the endoscopist who had not performed any dynamic investigation of swallowing. This case illustrates the importance of knowing the different mechanisms underlying dysphagia in psychiatric patients, and good communication with gastroenterologists to establish a precise diagnosis of the disorder, and adapt the therapy.
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Personality and its disorders have been the subject of many studies in philosophy, psychology or medicine. Current nosology gives preference to categorical classifications, but a dimensional approach may also be considered. Supported by Cloninger's psychobiological model, it refers to concepts of temperament (novelty seeking, reward dependence, harm avoidance and persistence) and character dimensions (self-directedness, cooperativeness and self-transcendence). Categorical and dimensional approaches do not appear antinomic, and the PerCaDim study tries to verify the hypothesis of correlations existing between them. ⋯ These results confirm previous findings that Cloninger's dimensions can objectify personality disorders. Few dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory can be considered as vulnerability factors. The use of the Temperament and Character Inventory will most certainly be of good help in the future to detect or prevent a personality disorder in some subjects at risk.