Acute and transient psychotic disorders (ICD-10 F23): a review from a European perspective

Abstract

The tenth revision of the International Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders (ICD-10) introduced the category F23 ‘Acute and transient psychotic disorders’ (ATPD) to incorporate clinical concepts such as the French bouffée délirante, cycloid psychosis (Germany), and the Scandinavian reactive and schizophreniform psychoses. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on ATPD and to examine how it has been differentiated from the other categories of F2 group ‘schizophrenia and related disorders’. Papers published between 1993 and 2007 were found through searches in Medline, PsychInfo and Google Scholar. Further references were identified from book chapters and comprehensive reviews of the topic. ATPD is reported as being prevalent in females and as having onset in early-middle adulthood. Although follow-up studies suggest that its outcome is more favourable than other disorders in the F2 group, ATPD tends to recur and half of cases convert mainly into either schizophrenia or affective disorders. No evidence supports the view that the traditional conditions subsumed under ATPD all refer to this diagnostic category. The lack of defining features and poor prognostic validity argue against the separation of ATPD from borderland categories.