Neuroendocrine Evaluation of Depression in Borderline Patients

Diagnostic confusion may arise in the evaluation of borderline patients when bipolar affective disorder is masked by severe character disorder. In a group of 21 patients referred because of serve dysphoric decompensation, neuroendocrine evaluation suggested that in many cases this was a melancholic episode marked by confusing and atypical clinical features. The dexamethasone suppression test may be useful in the differential diagnosis of these complicated patients, whose disorder may constitute a special clinical variant of melancholia.