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Bouffée délirante: an examination of its current status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

E. C. Johnson-Sabine*
Affiliation:
Academic Departments of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, and Middlesex Hospital, London, and the Service Hospitalo- Universitaire Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris
A. H. Mann
Affiliation:
Academic Departments of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, and Middlesex Hospital, London, and the Service Hospitalo- Universitaire Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris
R. J. Jacoby
Affiliation:
Academic Departments of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, and Middlesex Hospital, London, and the Service Hospitalo- Universitaire Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris
K. H. Wood
Affiliation:
Academic Departments of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, and Middlesex Hospital, London, and the Service Hospitalo- Universitaire Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris
P. Peron-Magnan
Affiliation:
Academic Departments of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, and Middlesex Hospital, London, and the Service Hospitalo- Universitaire Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris
J. P. Olié
Affiliation:
Academic Departments of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, and Middlesex Hospital, London, and the Service Hospitalo- Universitaire Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris
P. Deniker
Affiliation:
Academic Departments of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, and Middlesex Hospital, London, and the Service Hospitalo- Universitaire Hôpital Sainte-Anne, Paris
*
1 Address for correspondence: Dr E. Johnson-Sabine, Academic Department of Psychiatry, Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London NW3 2QR.

Synopsis

Bouffée délirante is an historic and unique French diagnostic term for a short-lived psychosis. The key diagnostic features are acute, floridly psychotic symptoms with complete remission. Its use in a Paris hospital has been examined, and it appears that the term is declining in popularity. A case-controlled study indicated that the diagnosis is likely to be given to migrants on first admission. A re-diagnosis of case summaries indicated no particular correspondence of bouffée délirante to any one lCD category. However, the usefulness of having a special diagnostic term for psychosis with a good outcome is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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