[Treatment trials with hemofiltration/hemodialysis in pernicious catatonia]

Two juvenile patients affected for the first time with pernicious catatonia were treated repeatedly with combined hemofiltration and hemodialysis. During the first two or three sessions, the distinct psychopathological improvement only persisted during the session itself and in a lesser degree during the following hours. It was only after further treatments that the therapy effect lasted longer and passed over into a continuous remission tendency. The findings might support a toxin hypothesis (in a broad sense) with respect to the genesis of catatonia and encourage a continuation of the studies.