[Lithium: only acceptable with careful monitoring].
In the Netherlands, lithium is the mood stabilizer of choice for patients with bipolar disorder. Long-term treatment with lithium can only be implemented safely with frequent and appropriate monitoring of serum lithium concentrations. Here we use 3 cases to illustrate that severe complications can arise when careful monitoring is not performed: a 47-year-old woman with symptoms of a lithium intoxication with therapeutic plasma levels; a 73-year-old woman with chronic lithium intoxication; and a 56-year-old woman with end-stage renal failure after many years of probable toxic lithium levels.
Antes / Delta Psychiatrisch Centrum, afd. Delta Zorgboulevard, Rotterdam.
Rocco
R
Hoekstra
Arjan M
AM
van Alphen
Tessa M
TM
Bosch
D000368:Aged; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000139:chemically induced; D018020:Lithium Compounds / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D011041:Poisoning / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*
D018020:Lithium Compounds