title: Atypical antipsychotics as "mood stabilizers": a retrospective chart review.
abstract: 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.
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Gaziantep University, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziantep, Turkey.
authors: Haluk A
authors: HA
authors: Savas
authors: Mehmet
authors: M
authors: Yumru
authors: M Cemal
authors: MC
authors: Kaya
authors: Salih
authors: S
authors: Selek
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents