Case study: antimanic effectiveness of dextroamphetamine in a brain-injured adolescent

A relatively enduring and counterintuitive antimanic response to dextroamphetamine in a brain-injured adolescent who had failed trials involving divalproex, lithium, haloperidol, and carbamazepine is described. This finding combined with data from previous reports of antimanic effects of test doses of stimulants imply that such a pharmacological probe may prove relevant for the prediction of treatment response of mania to dextroamphetamine and perhaps for subclassification of bipolar disorder.