Clinical, neuroendocrine, and sleep EEG diagnosis of "unusual" affective presentations: a practical review.

Numerous biologic measures are in the process of being developed for clinical use in psychiatry. It was the aim of this review to focus primarily on the practical usefulness of the DST and REM latency tests, the two most extensively researched of these new techniques. We believe that the emerging laboratory technology, if interpreted in the context of clinical findings, may assist in differential diagnostic decisions on difficult boundary issues surrounding affective disorders. As with other tests in medicine, to expect pathognomonic performance from the emerging laboratory technology in psychiatry would be unrealistic. No doubt, increasing knowledge will somewhat dampen the initial enthusiasm with which the DST and REM latency tests were accepted by many researchers and clinicians. On the other hand it is useful to remind skeptics that these tests have already made an impact on psychiatric ideology, research, and clinical practice, and appear to be with use to stay.