Discontinuation of lithium treatment in remitted bipolar patients: Relationship between clinical outcome and changes in sleep-wake cycles

Ehud Klein*, Rami Mairaz, Martha Pascal, Albert Hefez, Peretz Lavie

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this preliminary report, we describe four patients in whom long-term lithium therapy was discontinued, combined with actigraphic monitoring to assess changes in motor activity and the sleep-wake cycle. Two patients experienced rapid relapse of manic symptomatology, while two remained stable throughout a 1-year follow-up. Actigraphic monitoring revealed disintegration of the sleep-wake cycle and increased motor activity in the relapsed patients only. It is suggested that actigraphic recordings can be used to monitor lithium discontinuation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)499-501
Number of pages3
JournalJournal of Nervous and Mental Disease
Volume179
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1991
Externally publishedYes

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