[Imipramine and neuro-psychiatry. Retrospective study of 557 out-patients treated in a neuro-psychiatric unit (author's transl)].

A retrospective study of 557 outpatients who had been treated with imipramine has been undertaken in a neuro-psychiatric unit. The usual dose was 75 mg per day, most often associated with other psychotropic drugs. The main indication was a depressive state for 75 p. c. of the patients: in that case the efficacy reached 65 p. c. The achievement of such results with moderate doses might indicate a possible relationship between the optimal dosage of the antidepressive drug and the intensity of the mood disorder. 12.5 p. c. of the patients were treated for a post-contusional syndrome. The best results have been obtained with early treatment when patients didn't have any loss of consciousness at the time of their contusion. The other successful indications of imipramine were phobic and hypocondriacal neurotic symptoms and functional headaches which were resistant to the usual treatments, raising the problem of a possible masked depression.