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Response to clozapine of rapid cycling versus non‐cycling patients with a history of mania
Author(s) -
Suppes Trisha,
Erkan Ozcan M,
Carmody Thomas
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
bipolar disorders
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.285
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1399-5618
pISSN - 1398-5647
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-5618.2004.00119.x
Subject(s) - rapid cycling , cycling , mania , clozapine , psychology , bipolar disorder , psychiatry , medicine , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , lithium (medication) , history , archaeology
Objective: Rapid cycling (RC) bipolar disorder (BD) patients often do not respond fully to mood‐stabilizers. Atypical antipsychotics including clozapine may be good candidates as an alternative mood‐stabilizer for these patients. Methods: Twenty‐eight treatment‐resistant patients with either Bipolar Disorder Type I (n = 20), or Schizoaffective Disorder Bipolar Type (n = 8) received clozapine add‐on therapy. Patients were followed for up to 1 year. Patients were seen monthly and assessed on a number of symptom domains. Results: Fifteen of 28 patients met RC criteria. Differences between groups was non‐significant for reported age of onset, age at study entry, past history of treatment or hospitalization, or diagnosis. However, significantly more women were RC. More than 80% of patients in either group showed at least some improvement over the 1‐year study. Random regression analyses found the non‐rapid cycling (NRC) group experienced significantly greater improvement than RC patients (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Clozapine is more effective in NRC patients with a history of mania in comparison to patients with a recent history of RC.