[Dexamethasone test in the diagnosis and treatment of affective psychoses]

The results of dexamethasone test (DT) in patients with affective psychoses are presented. Of these, 61 were investigated in depressive state, 15 in mania, 28 in intermission. The control group consisted of 29 schizophrenic patients without affective symptoms, 15 reactive depressed and 42 healthy persons. The level of serum cortisol was determined using the competitive radioassay. The baseline cortisol levels were higher in endogenous depressions as compared to control with the degree of cortisol reduction in endogenous depression reduced against any other group. The DT sensitivity was 55.7% in endogenous depressions, 40.0% in mania and its specificity about 93%. The cases of pathological DT results were more frequently observed in the affective group with familial anamnesis of endogenous psychoses.