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Malcolm B. Bowers, Jr, MD; Mary E. Swigar, MD
Department of Psychiatry Yale University School of Medicine 25 Park St New Haven, CT 06519

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1987;44(2):190.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

We initially reported¹ that females with nonorganic psychoses showed elevations in fasting plasma free homovanillic acid (HVA) levels. We subsequently found increased plasma HVA levels in some psychotic males also and increased plasma free methoxyhydroxyphenylethylene glycol (MHPG) levels in some psychotic males and females.² Neuroleptic treatment was associated with a decline in these plasma catecholamine metabolites over a two- to three-week period, and high pretreatment values correlated with a favorable early neuroleptic response.³ Others have reported similar results in schizophrenic patients.^4-6

We have now obtained fasting plasma free HVA and MHPG values for 379 consecutive inpatient admissions, of whom 133 patients were given nonorganic psychotic diagnoses. The following DSM-III diagnostic groups were included: schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, mania with psychosis, major depression with psychosis, atypical psychosis, paranoid disorder, and brief reactive psychosis. The control groups included all other male and female patients . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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