REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS We found no significant evidence to support the use of clotiapine rather than other ' st and ard ' or ' non-st and ard ' treatments for the management of  acute psychotic illness .
BACKGROUND Acute psychotic illness , especially when associated with agitated or violent behaviour , requires urgent pharmacological tranquillisation or sedation .
Clotiapine , a dibenzothiazepine neuroleptic , is being used for this purpose in several countries .
OBJECTIVES To estimate the effects of clotiapine when compared to other ' st and ard ' or ' non-st and ard ' treatments of acute psychotic illness in controlling disturbed behaviour and reducing psychotic symptoms .
Differential response to right unilateral ECT in depressed patients: impact of comorbidity and severity of illness [ISRCTN39974945]
Background Recent electroconvulsive therapy ( ECT ) efficacy studies of right unilateral ( RUL ) ECT may not apply to real life clinics with a wide range of patients with major depressive episodes . Methods The study included two groups of patients . In addition to a homogeneous group of patients with major depression according to DSM-IV criteria with severity of the major depressive episode > 16 scores on 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression ( HDRS ) ( Group 1 , n = 16 ) , we included a heterogeneous group of patients with less severe major depressive episodes or with a variety of comorbid conditions ( Group 2 , n = 24 ) . We r and omly assigned the patients to an RUL ECT treatment dosed at 5 or 2.5 times seizure threshold with an intent-to-treat design . The outcomes measured blindly were HDRS , number of treatments , and Mini-Mental State Examination ( MMSE ) . The patients were considered to have responded to treatment if the improvement in HDRS score was at least 60 % and they had a total score of less than ten . Results The Group 2 patients responded poorer ( 8 % vs. 63 % ) , and had more often simultaneous worsening in their MMSE scores than Group 1 patients . The differences in the outcomes between the two different doses of RUL ECT treatment were not statistically significant . Conclusions ECT effectiveness seems to be lower in real-life heterogeneous patient groups than in homogeneous patient sample s used in experimental efficacy trials
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS We found no significant evidence to support the use of clotiapine rather than other ' st and ard ' or ' non-st and ard ' treatments for the management of  acute psychotic illness .
BACKGROUND Acute psychotic illness , especially when associated with agitated or violent behaviour , requires urgent pharmacological tranquillisation or sedation .
Clotiapine , a dibenzothiazepine neuroleptic , is being used for this purpose in several countries .
OBJECTIVES To estimate the effects of clotiapine when compared to other ' st and ard ' or ' non-st and ard ' treatments of acute psychotic illness in controlling disturbed behaviour and reducing psychotic symptoms .