Atypical antipsychotics as "mood stabilizers": a retrospective chart review.
BACKGROUND
Introduction and common usage of atypical antipsychotics in maintenance therapy for bipolar disorders is an innovative perspective. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy of atypical antipsychotics (AA) used either as monotherapy or in combination with a mood stabilizer (MS) in the maintenance treatment.


METHODS
55 patients treated with AA either alone or in combination with a MS for bipolar I disorder which were followed up for 6 months were retrospectively evaluated. Clinical status was evaluated with Bech Rafaelsen Mania Rating Scale (BRMRS), 24-item Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Clinical Global Impressions Scale (CGI).


RESULTS
Having similar demographic and clinical backgrounds, patients on with both treatment groups had significant clinical improvement. During the maintenance phase, numbers of total attacks were not significantly different between the two treatment groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Our naturalistic, controlled retrospective observations suggest the potential use of atypical antipsychotics in the long-term management of bipolar I disorder. Larger and prospective studies are needed to determine the role of atypical antipsychotics more clearly in the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study comparing MS+AA with only AA treatment regimen.
Savas
Haluk A
HA
Department of Psychiatry, Gaziantep University, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep, Turkey.
Yumru
Mehmet
M
Kaya
M Cemal
MC
Selek
Salih
S
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect / Q000187:drug effects*; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents