There has been increasing recognition of pediatric bipolar disorder in the psychiatric field during the past 10 years. The clinical presentation of this disorder in preadolescent is greatly debated and few studies have been conducted in Korea. The authors report 3 cases of children with bipolar I disorder whose clinical symptoms were improved after pharmacotherapy. The authors also review current concepts, debates and treatment of pediatric bipolar disorder.
Bipolar Disorder ; Child ; Drug Therapy* ; Humans ; Korea

OBJECTIVES: We revised the Korean Medication Algorithm Project for Bipolar Disorder (KMAP-BP) 2014 to provide more timely information for the use of the information by clinicians.METHODS: We performed the survey using a questionnaire for the treatment of manic or hypomanic episode in the participants. There were sixty-one members of the review committee who completed the survey. The executive committee analyzed the results and discussed the final production of the applicable algorithm as considering the scientific evidence.RESULTS: The combination of a mood stabilizer (MS) and an atypical antipsychotic (AAP) was recommended as the treatment of choice (TOC), and a monotherapy with an AAP was the first-line pharmacotherapeutic strategy for the initial treatment of mania, with or without psychotic features. The MS monotherapy was the first-line choice therapy, but only for the non-psychotic mania patients. When the initial treatment failed, the TOC was a combination of a MS and an AAP in mania with or without psychotic features, and a combination of two AAPs was TOC for the psychotic mania, as well. For hypomania, the monotherapy with MS or AAP was the first-line as initial treatment, and the recommended switch to or add an AAP was recommended when the initial strategies failed.CONCLUSION: Compared with the previous version, the experts recommend more intensive interventions earlier when initial treatment failed to respond to a recommended monotherapy.
Advisory Committees ; Bipolar Disorder ; Drug Therapy ; Humans

OBJECT: Although there is extensive research. on treatment of acute unipolar depression, few studies examined the treatment of acute bipolar depression. This preliminary study was designed to suggest clinical guideline for treatment of bipolar depression through comparing the pharmacological treatment of bipolar depression with that of unipolar depression. METHOD: We studied 19 patients with bipolar depression and 38 patients with unipolar depression, who were admitted to Kyung Hee University Medical Crater from January 1990 to December 1997. The pattern of treatment and the response to treatment of bipolar depression were investigated compared with unipolar depression. RESULTS: The percentage of prescription in bipolar depression was as follows in order : combination of mood stabilizer and an antidepressant 52.6%, mood stabilizers 15.8%, ECT 15.8%, TCAs 5.3%, SSRIs 5.3%, RIMA 5.3%. In unipolar depression : TCAs 47.4%, SSRIs 28.9%, combination of mood stabilizer and an antidepressant 10.5%, others 13.2%. There was no significant difference in response to treatment in bipolar depression and unipolar depression. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest a mood stabilizer and an antidepressant together or a mood stabilizer alone would be first line in bipolar depression. Among the antidepressants, bupropion, RIMA and SSRls is more recommended in that order rather than TCAs in consideration of the risk of switching into mania.
Antidepressive Agents ; Bipolar Disorder* ; Bupropion ; Depressive Disorder ; Drug Therapy* ; Humans ; Prescriptions

Bipolar disorder is a major mental illness that is difficult to treat and has a high degree of recurrence. This article reports general anesthesia for oral surgery in a patient with bipolar disorder complicated with hypothyroidism. It also discusses the rational application of antipsychotic drugs and anesthetics with reference to the literature to improve the understanding of the disease and help patients with mental disorders complete the surgical treatment quietly and smoothly.
Humans ; Bipolar Disorder/drug therapy* ; Antipsychotic Agents/therapeutic use* ; Hypothyroidism/drug therapy* ; Oral Surgical Procedures ; Anesthesia

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a safe and effective treatment not only for various mental disorders including depression, mania, and schizophrenia, but also for inadequacy and resistance to pharmacotherapy and the psychiatric emergences. The historical ups and downs of ECT treatment since its first introduction in 1938 were ended by the validation impacts of evidence-based medicine in the 1980s and by other clinical issues. Clinical research for the optimization of ECT to maximize therapeutic effects and to minimize adverse effects is ongoing to establish standardized procedures and educational programs through the ECT center. In addition, guidelines for ECT practices are also being developed for the clinical excellence of ECT practices in accordance with the recommendations of international organizations such as World Psychiatric Association and American Psychiatric Association. This article was prepared by reviews of the literature, direct observations of ECT practices abroad, and interviews with ECT experts around the world in order to enhance therapeutic effects with recently updated ECT practices under the belief that the most appropriate treatments should be provided to the patients in need.
Bipolar Disorder ; Depression ; Drug Therapy ; Electroconvulsive Therapy* ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Humans ; Mental Disorders ; Schizophrenia

Pancreatitis is a very rare adverse effect of quetiapine treatment, with only 5 cases of quetiapine-associated pancreatitis reported in the English literature to date. Herein, we report one patient who developed severe hypertriglyceridemia (>1000 mg/dL) after quetiapine administration, resulting in acute pancreatitis. An analysis of the underlying pathogenic mechanisms and a review of relevant literature are also presented. Clinicians should be aware of the potentially life-threatening metabolic disturbances and/or pancreatitis associated with quetiapine therapy.
Acute Disease ; Bipolar Disorder/*drug therapy/*psychology ; Dibenzothiazepines/*therapeutic use ; Humans ; Hypertriglyceridemia/*drug therapy/*psychology ; Pancreatitis/*drug therapy/*psychology

Bipolar Disorder ; drug therapy ; Child Psychiatry ; methods ; Female ; Humans ; Lithium ; therapeutic use ; Male

OBJECTIVE: To examine the efficacy of adjunctive right prefrontal high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment in adolescent mania patients as compared to sham stimulation. METHODS: Twenty six right handed patients aged 12-17 years diagnosed with bipolar mania were randomized to receive daily sessions of active or sham rTMS (20 Hz, 110% of motor threshold, 20 trains, 10 s intertrain interval) over the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for 10 days. Mania was rated using Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) and Clinical Global Impression (CGI) at baseline, and after 5th and 10th rTMS. RESULTS: For YMRS scores, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant main effect (F=44.49, degree of freedom [df]=1.2/29.29, p<0.001, Greenhouse-Geisser corrected, effect size eta 2=0.65), but the interaction effect was not significant (F=0.03, df=1.2/29.29, p=0.912, Greenhouse-Geisser corrected). For CGI-Severity, repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant main effect (F=24.49, df=1.42/34.21, p<0.001, Greenhouse-Geisser corrected, effect size eta2=0.51), but the interaction effect was not significant (F=0.06, df=1.2/29.29, p=0.881, Greenhouse-Geisser corrected). CONCLUSION: High-frequency right prefrontal rTMS was found to be ineffective as add-on to standard pharmacotherapy in adolescent mania.
Adolescent* ; Bipolar Disorder* ; Drug Therapy ; Freedom ; Hand ; Humans ; Prefrontal Cortex* ; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation*

OBJECTIVE: The Korean Medication Algorithm for Bipolar Disorder (KMAP-BP) was developed in 2002 and subsequent minor revisions for mania, bipolar depression and rapid cycling were published recently. To compare the similarity and discrepancy, the authors who engaged in developing KMAP-BP as the executive members reviewed treatment guidelines for bipolar disorder. METHODS: The authors fully reviewed 6 currently available treatment guidelines and many literatures on the described points of overlap and discordance among guidelines and then compared along with various phases of bipolar disorder. RESULTS: KMAP-BP was structurally similar to Expert Consensus Guideline Series for Bipolar Disorder. In aspects of treatment options, most treatment guidelines were similar, but KMAP-BP advocated the antipsychotics as early treatment options and had fewer consensus on the preferences among mood stabilizers. Also, KMAP-BP was not concerned about the special clinical situations such as pregnancy, adolescence and elderly patients and lacked the general descriptions of psychotrophics commonly used as mood stabilizers. CONCLUSION: This review suggests that consultation of treatment guidelines may provide clinicians with useful information and a rationale for making sequential treatment decisions. It also consistently stressed that treatment algorithm or guidelines are not a substitute for clinical judgment; they may serve as a critical reference to complement individual clinical judgment.
Adolescent ; Aged ; Antipsychotic Agents ; Bipolar Disorder ; Complement System Proteins ; Consensus ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Judgment ; Pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: Since the Korean Medication Algorithm Project for Bipolar Disorder (KMAP-BP) was developed in 2002, the third revision of KMAP-BP was performed in 2014 in order to reflect the recent rapid development and research of bipolar disorder and psychopharmacology. METHODS: According to methodology of previous versions, KMAP-BP 2014 was revised using the same questionnaire consisting of 14 questions. Sixty-four experts of the review committee completed the survey. The executive committee analyzed the results and discussed the final production of algorithm considering scientific evidence. RESULTS: The first-line pharmacotherapeutic strategy for acute bipolar depressive episode with moderate, non-psychotic severe and psychotic severe episode was mood stabilizer combined with atypical antipsychotic (AAP) or AAP with lamotrigine. Compared to KMAP-BP 2010, preference of AAP has been increased in the treatment of bipolar depressive episode in KMAP-BP 2014. Among AAPs, olanzapine, quetiapine and aripiprazole were preferred. When considering the efficacy and safety simultaneously, (es)citalopram, bupropion, and sertraline were recommended among antidepressants for bipolar depression. CONCLUSION: Compared with the previous version, we found that more aggressive pharmacological strategies as an initial treatment were preferred, although various strategies were recommended as same as previous studies. Increased preference of AAP was prominent in KMAP-BP 2014. We expect this algorithm may be helpful in the treatment of bipolar disorder, depressive episode.
Advisory Committees ; Antidepressive Agents ; Bipolar Disorder* ; Bupropion ; Drug Therapy ; Psychopharmacology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sertraline ; Aripiprazole ; Quetiapine Fumarate