0
Article |

Lithium Prophylaxis in American Patients With Unipolar Disorder

Mogens Schou, MD
Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994;51(6):502-502. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1994.03950060066007
Text Size: A A A
Published online

A recent issue of Current Opinion in Psychiatry Presented a section on mood disorders; two reviews by American authors dealt with longterm treatment. One1 described maintenance treatment with antidepressants and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) but did not mention prophylactic lithium treatment. The other2 concluded that, in unipolar depressive disorder, "the routine use of lithium salts instead of, or in combination with, antidepressants does not appear well-justified as a firstline maintenance treatment." In the author's opinion, two studies had shown lithium treatment to be ineffective in patients with unipolar disorder: British psychiatrists3 found no advantage of treatment with amitriptyline plus lithium over treatment with amitriptyline alone, and an American study4 found treatment with lithium no better than placebo in patients whose index episode had been severe (although as effective as imipramine in those with an index episode of moderate intensity).

The former finding reveals, however, nothing about the

REFERENCES

Nobler MS, Sackeim HA.  Pharmacotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy for mood disorders . Curr Opin Psychiatry . 1993;;6:10-15.
Thase ME.  Maintenance treatments of recurrent affective disorders . Curr Opin Psychiatry . 1993;;6:16-21.
Johnstone EC, Owens DGC, Lambert MT, Crow TJ, Frith CD, Done DJ.  Combination tricyclic antidepressant and lithium maintenance medication in unipolar and bipolar depressed patients . J Affect Disord . 1990;;20:225-233.
Prien RF, Kupfer DJ, Mansky PA, Small JG, Tuason VB, Voss CB, Johnson WE.  Drug therapy in the prevention of recurrences in unipolar and bipolar affective disorders . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1984;;41:1096-1104.
Goodwin FK, Jamison KR. Manic-Depressive Illness . New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc; 1990;.
Souza FGM, Goodwin GM.  Lithium treatment and prophylaxis in unipolar depression: a meta-analysis . Br J Psychiatry . 1991;;158:666-675.
Müller-Oerlinghausen B, Ahrens B, Grof E, Grof P, Lenz G, Schou M, Simhandl C, Thau K, Volk J, Wolf R, Wolf T.  The effect of long-term lithium treatment on the mortality of patients with manic-depressive or schizo-affective illness . Acta Psychiatr Scand . 1992;;86:218-222.
Frank E, Kupfer DJ, Perel JM, Cornes C, Jarrett DB, Mallinger AG, Thase ME, McEachran AB, Grochocinski VJ.  Three-year outcomes for maintenance therapies in recurrent depression . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1990;;47:1093-1099.
Kupfer DJ, Frank E, Perel JM, Cornes C, Mallinger AG, Thase ME, McEachran AB, Grochocinski VJ.  Five-year outcome for maintenance therapies in recurrent depression . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1992;:49:769-773.

First Page Preview

First page PDF preview

Figures

Tables

Interactive Graphics

Video

Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

Nobler MS, Sackeim HA.  Pharmacotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy for mood disorders . Curr Opin Psychiatry . 1993;;6:10-15.
Thase ME.  Maintenance treatments of recurrent affective disorders . Curr Opin Psychiatry . 1993;;6:16-21.
Johnstone EC, Owens DGC, Lambert MT, Crow TJ, Frith CD, Done DJ.  Combination tricyclic antidepressant and lithium maintenance medication in unipolar and bipolar depressed patients . J Affect Disord . 1990;;20:225-233.
Prien RF, Kupfer DJ, Mansky PA, Small JG, Tuason VB, Voss CB, Johnson WE.  Drug therapy in the prevention of recurrences in unipolar and bipolar affective disorders . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1984;;41:1096-1104.
Goodwin FK, Jamison KR. Manic-Depressive Illness . New York, NY: Oxford University Press Inc; 1990;.
Souza FGM, Goodwin GM.  Lithium treatment and prophylaxis in unipolar depression: a meta-analysis . Br J Psychiatry . 1991;;158:666-675.
Müller-Oerlinghausen B, Ahrens B, Grof E, Grof P, Lenz G, Schou M, Simhandl C, Thau K, Volk J, Wolf R, Wolf T.  The effect of long-term lithium treatment on the mortality of patients with manic-depressive or schizo-affective illness . Acta Psychiatr Scand . 1992;;86:218-222.
Frank E, Kupfer DJ, Perel JM, Cornes C, Jarrett DB, Mallinger AG, Thase ME, McEachran AB, Grochocinski VJ.  Three-year outcomes for maintenance therapies in recurrent depression . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1990;;47:1093-1099.
Kupfer DJ, Frank E, Perel JM, Cornes C, Mallinger AG, Thase ME, McEachran AB, Grochocinski VJ.  Five-year outcome for maintenance therapies in recurrent depression . Arch Gen Psychiatry . 1992;:49:769-773.

Correspondence

CME Course for:


You need to register in order to view this quiz.


To understand the clinical management of acute heart failure syndromes.
Accreditation Information The American Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The AMA designates this journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM per course. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Physicians who complete the CME course and score at least 80% correct on the quiz are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
You have not filled in all the answers to complete this quiz
The following questions were not answered:
Sorry, you have unsuccessfully completed this CME quiz with a score of
The following questions were not answered correctly:
For CME Course: A Proposed Model for Initial Assessment and Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes
Indicate what changes(s) you will implement in your practice, if any, based on this CME course.
To view and print your certificate and access a summary of your CME courses go to My CME.
NOTE:
Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).
Submit a Comment

Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.