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The use of quetiapine for treatment-resistant bipolar disorder: a case series
1Massachusetts General Hospital, Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114, USA.
Objective:
To determine if quetiapine, an atypical antipsychotic agent approved for the treatment of schizophrenia, is effective in the treatment of bipolar disorder.
Materials And Methods:
A retrospective chart review identified six patients with DSM-IV bipolar disorder, type I, who received open uncontrolled treatment with quetiapine in the setting of nonresponse or intolerance to traditional mood-stabilizing treatments. Treatment response was based on moderate to marked improvement on the Clinical Global Impression-Bipolar Disorder (CGI-BP) scale.
Results:
Two of six patients showed evidence of response. The main side effect noted was sedation.
Conclusions:
Quetiapine may be a useful treatment for some patients with treatment-resistant bipolar disorder. Further studies are needed to assess quetiapine's effect more rigorously.