title: [Psychopharmacological treatment of bipolar disorder in Latin American].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study assessed the treatment preferences among Latin-American psychiatrists for their bipolar disorder patients and if these preferences reflect the current guidelines.
  
  
  METHODS
  We designed a survey comprised of fourteen questions. All the questions were aimed at the treatment of bipolar I patients only. We distributed the survey by hand or e-mail to psychiatrists in eight different countries: Argentina, Brasil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, México, Perú and Venezuela. Between May 2008 and June 2009, we were able to gather 1143 surveys.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As the initial choice of treatment for a bipolar patient who debuts with mania, 61.3% choose a combination of an atypical antipsychotic and a mood stabilizer. Lithium Carbonate (50%) was the first choice for a mood stabilizer in a manic episode. Olanzapine (55.4%) was the initial antipsychotic of choice for the treatment of acute mania. For the treatment of acute bipolar depression, 27% choose Lamotrigineas their first choice. Most of the psychiatrists (74.8%) prescribe antidepressants for the treatment of bipolar depression. For maintenance treatment of bipolar depression most psychiatrists first choice would be Lamotrigine (50.3%). Most of the psychiatrists (89.1%) prescribed two or more psychotropic drugs for the maintenance treatment of their bipolar patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were some similarities with the studies previously done in the US. It seems that for the most part the Latin-American psychiatrists don't strictly follow the literature guidelines that are published, but rather adapt the treatment to the specific case. More longitudinal studies of prescribing patterns in bipolar disorder are needed to corroborate these findings.
authors: Departamento de Psiquiatría, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú. oscadri2000@yahoo.com
authors: Oscar
authors: O
authors: Heeren
authors: Manuel
authors: M
authors: Sánchez De Carmona
authors: Gustavo
authors: G
authors: Vásquez
authors: Rodrigo
authors: R
authors: Córdoba
authors: Jorge
authors: J
authors: Forero
authors: Luis
authors: L
authors: Madrid
authors: Diogo
authors: D
authors: Lara
authors: Rafael
authors: R
authors: Medina
authors: Luis
authors: L
authors: Meza