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Forty-one out-patients with a history of at least three attacks of depressive illness were randomly allocated to treatment on a double-blind basis for one year with either mianserin 20 mg three times daily plus placebo lithium tablets, or to lithium tablets once daily plus placebo mianserin tablets. After one year, the dosage of mianserin was increased to 30 mg t.d.s. for a further six months. All but three of the patients had previously been stabilized on prophylactic lithium therapy. Lithium was found to be significantly superior to mianserin in avoiding admission to hospital or ECT. The overall affective morbidity index, calculated from global rating, showed no significant difference between drugs, but the index of the mianserin group was higher in the second six months than in the first. The lithium group showed no such change. Lithium remains the choice for the prophylaxis of unipolar recurrent depressive illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The antidepressant activities of mianserin hydrochloride were investigated and compared with those of amitriptyline. The therapeutic efficacy of the two drugs appeared similar, but the incidence of side-effects was significantly higher with amitriptyline. Plasma levels of mianserin were determined during the trial and were not related to the therapeutic activity of the drug. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of patients admitted for drug-related problems and the duration of inpatient treatment required primarily for drug reactions and/or related problems during the period 1 October to 31 December 1979 were studied in one of the three general medical units of a district general hospital. 93% of all patients were admitted as emergencies either through the casualty department or at the their own general practitioner's request. Acute self-poisoning (9.9%) and other drug-related problems (8.8%) were, respectively, the third and fifth most common causes of hospital admission. These two conditions jointly (all drug-related problems) appeared to be the second most common cause and accounted for 18.7% of hospital admissions. The mean duration of hospitalization in patients with drug-related problems, excluding self-poisoning, was approximately 8 days. This was almost identical to hospital bed occupancy due to bronchopulmonary diseases (8.3 days) and complications of diabetes mellitus (8.4 days). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]