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Assessment of Outcome after Psychosurgery using The Present State Examination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

D. A. Curson
Affiliation:
St Andrew's Hospital, Northampton, NN1 5DG and Guy's Hospital Medical School, London
T. Trauer
Affiliation:
York Clinic, Guy's Hospital
P. K. Bridges
Affiliation:
Geoffrey Knight Psychosurgical Unit, Brook General Hospital, London and Department of Psychiatry, Guy's Hospital Medical School
P. K. Gillman
Affiliation:
Geoffrey Knight Psychosurgical Unit, Brook General Hospital

Summary

The aim of the study was to explore the way psychiatric symptoms might influence independent psychiatric assessment of outcome one year after stereotactic subcaudate tractotomy. In a sample of 34 patients consecutively accepted for psychosurgery the results showed that both ‘good’ and ‘poor’ outcome groups improved overall. No patients were significantly worse and the symptoms which improved most were nervous tension, depressed mood and somatic anxiety. It was not possible to identify symptomatic predictors of outcome because the preoperative symptom profiles of both groups were so similar. The reason why symptomatic outcome is so variable despite a basically identical psychosurgical technique is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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