CSF 5HIAA and Personal and Family History of Suicide in Affectively III Patients: A Negative Study

Personal & family histories of suicidality were gathered in 45 patients who met Research Diagnostic Criteria for major affective disorder(n=32, bipolar; n=13, unipolar) & compared to CSF values of 5HIAA obtained by 2 different assays(n=20, fluorometric; n=25, high performance liquid chromatography). In separate analyses of the 2 assay groups, patients who had made a suicide attempt were not significantly different from those who had not in terms of 5HIAA value or family history of suicidality.