title: Pediatric bipolar disorder: emerging diagnostic and treatment approaches.
abstract: Children and adolescents who have bipolar disorder often are encountered in clinical settings and frequently require treatment with mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics. New screening and diagnostic tools are available to aid in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents. Additional data supporting the use of mood stabilizers and atypical antipsychotics in this population also are emerging. Combinations of existing psychotropics remain the most effective treatment of pediatric bipolar disorder at this point. This article reviews the phenomenology and clinical characteristics of pediatric bipolar disorder and current approaches to pharmacotherapy. It is becoming apparent that bipolar disorder is often a chronic disorder in children and adolescents, much like diabetes, and is best managed with a combination of medications and psychosocial therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati Medical Center & Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, MSB 7261, PO Box 670559, Cincinnati, OH 45267-0559, USA. robert.kowatch@uc.edu
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kowatch
authors.forename: Melissa P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: DelBello
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D004358:Drug Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires