Placebo-controlled trial of valproic Acid versus risperidone in children 3-7 years of age with bipolar I disorder.

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of valproic acid versus risperidone in children, 3-7 years of age, with bipolar I disorder (BPD), during a mixed or manic episode.

Methods: Forty-six children with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 4th ed.

Guidelines for treatment-resistant mania in children with bipolar disorder.

Objective: To implement a treatment algorithm to operationalize treatment-resistance and improve patient outcomes in youth with pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD). The term "treatment resistance" was operationally defined as significant persistent symptoms following the application of a treatment algorithm.

Method: Youth (6-17 years of age, n=120) with treatment-refractory bipolar I or II disorder, currently in a manic or mixed episode, were treated in accordance with the following 3 step algorithm: (1) removal of destabilizing agents (antidepressants, gamma aminobutyric acid [GABA]-agonists, and stimulants), (2) optimization of antimanic agents, and (3) use of a limited number (E 2) of mood stabilizers.

Rapid quetiapine loading in youths with bipolar disorder.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the tolerability and efficacy of rapid quetiapine loading in youth diagnosed with pediatric bipolar disorder (PBD).

Method: Quetiapine was started at 100 mg/day, and increased to 400 mg/day by day 5 in 75 bipolar children (6-16 years), presenting in an acute manic or hypomanic episode. Subsequent dose adjustments were predicated on the clinical picture.

Concurrent ADHD and bipolar disorder.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently is present concurrently with bipolar disorder (BPD) in youth. This concurrence appears to be more common in younger children. The degree to which ADHD is present in adults with BPD has not been well studied.

Concurrent medical conditions with pediatric bipolar disorder.

Purpose Of Review: Pediatric bipolar disorder is a serious mental illness with significant morbidity and mortality. A variety of medical and psychiatric conditions occur concurrently with bipolar disorder. These conditions have been more frequently reported in adults.

Psychopharmacology: clinical implications of brain neurochemistry.

There is an increasing prescription of psychotropic medications to youth. This use is accompanied by a developing, but lagging, evidence base for this use. These agents predominantly interact with regulatory neurotransmitters, which have known functions in the developing embryo.

Randomized, placebo-controlled trial of mixed amphetamine salts for symptoms of comorbid ADHD in pediatric bipolar disorder after mood stabilization with divalproex sodium.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether adjunctive use of a psychostimulant (mixed amphetamine salts) was safe and efficacious for treatment of symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in pediatric outpatients with bipolar I or bipolar II disorder and concurrent ADHD whose manic symptoms had been stabilized through treatment with divalproex sodium.

Method: An 8-week open-label trial of divalproex sodium to control manic symptoms and to discern the effect of divalproex sodium on ADHD was followed by a 4-week randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial to determine if mixed amphetamine salts was safe and effective for treatment of ADHD symptoms. Patients in the crossover trial continued to receive divalproex sodium.

Abnormal neurological signs at the onset of psychosis.

Introduction: The objective of this investigation was to determine whether abnormal neurological signs (ANS) are present at the onset of psychosis, prior to the initiation of antipsychotic treatment, and to examine the effect of 6 weeks of antipsychotic treatment on these signs.

Methods: We examined 29 first-episode schizophrenic patients admitted at an Army Medical Center within 10 days of psychosis onset, using the Neurological Evaluation Scale and the 18-item Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) and compared them to controls.

Results: All of the subjects had neurological signs indicating problems in sensory integration, motor coordination, and sequencing of complex motor acts.

Reduced erythrocyte membrane essential fatty acids and increased lipid peroxides in schizophrenia at the never-medicated first-episode of psychosis and after years of treatment with antipsychotics.

Abnormal membrane phospholipid essential polyunsaturated fatty acid (EPUFA) metabolism (i.e., reduced incorporation into phospholipids and increased breakdown) has been suggested to contribute to the etiopathophysiology of schizophrenia.