Alprazolam-induced hypomania

Alcohol withdrawal delirium manifested by manic symptoms in an elderly patient

Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a commonly seen problem in psychiatric practice. Alcohol withdrawal delirium is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Withdrawal symptoms usually include tremulousness, psychotic and perceptual symptoms, seizures, and consciousness disturbance. Herein, we report a case involving a 63-year-old man who had alcohol withdrawal delirium that was manifested mainly by manic symptoms.

Bipolar disorder in women: reproductive events and treatment considerations

OBJECTIVE

Bipolar disorders are prevalent in women. Women with bipolar disorder often present with different clinical features than men. Reproductive events and hormonal treatments may impact the course of bipolar disorder. Our main objectives are to i) assess the impact of reproductive events on the course of the disorder, and ii) to discuss the relationships between reproductive events and psychiatric treatments.

METHOD

A literature search was conducted of MEDLINE journals from 1965 to present. Manual literature searches were also conducted. We review the presentation, clinical course, and treatment considerations of bipolar disorder in women, with emphasis on treatment considerations in the context of reproductive events. Treatment-related issues such as teratogenicity, breastfeeding, polycystic ovarian syndrome, weight gain and obesity, and medication interactions with oral contraceptives are reviewed.

RESULTS

Women with bipolar disorder may be more vulnerable to mood episodes in the context of reproductive events, particularly postpartum. In women of reproductive age, mood stabilizers must be selected with teratogenic risks in mind, with the highest reported risks in pregnancy with valproate, and the greatest concern during breastfeeding with lithium use. In the areas of the perimenopause and polycycstic ovarian syndrome, more data are needed to advise treatment decisions.

CONCLUSION

We urgently need further study in these areas to deliver care that is appropriate to women with bipolar disorder.

Les traitements adjuvants au cours de l’épisode maniaque

When treating patients with manic states, the physician has to deal with at least two main Issues. First, the therapeutic decision has to be rapid because of the unpredictability of its immediate course. This concerns often results in polypharmacy with adjunct treatments. However, the therapeutic choice has to be cautious since part of the treatment will be maintained for prophylaxis. According to recent guidelines, the use of monotherapy with mood stabilisers during acute manic states concerns only few patients with mostly hypomania to moderate mania. Up to date, antipsychotics and benzodiazepines are considered as adjunct treatment in mania with psychotic symptoms or hostility. However, survey studies show that antipsychotics are widely used as adjunct treatments to mood stabilisers, indeed beyond the indications held by the guidelines. Our objective was to describe the clinical situations justifying the addition of an adjunct treatment during acute mania and to clear up from published data, the advantages and the inconveniences of combining antipsychotics and/or benzodiazepines with a mood stabilisers in order to define differentiated indications. Mania associated with either agitation, sleep disturbances or psychotic symptoms requires most of the time to combine mood stabiliser and respectively, sedative and/or anxiolytic, hypnotic or anti-psychotic treatments. Patients suffering from mania associated with other disorders need specific treatment adjustment and combination related to their medical condition. Adjunctive conventional antipsychotic remains widely used in first intention treatment. The conventional antipsychotic is often prescribed alone in the first weeks prior to the association with a mood stabiliser. Nevertheless there are controversies in the literature about their efficiency and their delay of action with regard to other treatments. When the conventional antipsychotic is a part of their initial treatment, manic patients remain taking them when discharged from hospital and are still taking them after 6 Months in a great percentage of the cases. The adverse events with conventional antipsychotic are numerous and severe enough in bipolar patients to restrict their use in first intention mainly to psychotic mania. Moreover, there are evidences for higher sensitivity to adverse effects of the conventional antipsychotics in manic patients. When agitation in acute mania requires an adjunct to mood stabiliser, the conventional antipsychotic treatment could be use for over-excitation without catatonic features and with particular care with the risk of akathisia. Long term effects of conventional antipsychotics, especially on depressive recurrences, should argue to stop them as soon as possible. Since the safety of adjunctive new antipsychotics with mood stabilisers seems until now acceptable, its indication should be limited to acute psychotic manias. Adjunctive benzodiazepine, should be evaluated in the various types of mania with specific concerns with comorbidity frequently met in consultation-liaison psychiatry. Benzodiazepines plus mood stabilisers may be the treatment of choice for the manias in which anxious state, catatonic symptoms or sleeplessness.