Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com
Introduction
Bipolar disorder is a complicated syndrome with multifactorial
etiology such as neuro-endocrine, genetic, and environmental factors.
1
The frst line treatment of bipolar disorder is pharmaco-therapy.
2
In
acute phase of mania, lithium, anticonvulsants
3
and antipsychotic
agents are suitable for symptom management.
4
Aripiprazole as a
third generation antipsychotic, is a partial agonist of the dopamine
D2 receptor, a partial agonist of the serotonin 5-HT
1a
receptor,
and antagonist of the 5HT
2A
receptor sites.
5
Aripiprazole has
been defned as a dopamine system stabilizer.
6
Due to its unique
psychopharmacological profle the hypo-dopaminergic state is limited
by this medication. Aripiprazole was approved by the FDA in 2004
for treatment of bipolar disorder.
7
An important meta-analyses which
was designed by Dian-JengLi and co-authors confrmed the effcacy
or safety of aripiprazole in manic episodes.
8
There are several studies that show long-term administration of
aripiprazole in combination to lithium or valproate in bipolar mania
is well tolerated and safe and this improvement in functioning is
maintained.
9,10
One of the side effects of aripiprazole is akatasia.
11
The frequency of occurrence of other extra pyramidal symptom-
related events such as acute dystonia, parkinsonian syndrome,
akathisia, akinesia, rabbit syndrome, tardive dyskinesia or neuroleptic
malignant syndrome in short-term, and in long-term, and in patients
with schizophrenia or bipolar mania is similar in both the placebo and
the aripiprazole-treated groups.
11
Case report
The patient was 30year old single lady, she couldn’t fnish primary
school. She lives with her mother and could only do simple tasks
such as individual care. In the other word she was a case of learning
disability. Who came with increased energy, increased activity level,
risky behaviors such as involvement in sexual contact, paranoid
delusion about her neighbor and sever agitation and aggression.
These symptoms began about 2month’s prior admission. This was the
frst episode of illness. Till now she never experienced depressive,
hypomanic or psychotic episodes. All of the work ups such as
biochemistry evaluation, thyroid function test and brain imaging
was done and no abnormality was detected. With impression of
Bipolar disorder type I, pharmacotherapy began. She received lithium
150mg QHs and Aripiprazole 5mg QD. The therapeutic response in
management of agitation and control of hyperactivity was dramatic.
During frst week of therapy, agitation and aggression improved and
paranoid delusions became shaky.
8
th
day of admission she became febrile (38C axillary) and
she developed with tremor, sialorrhea and drowsiness. All of the
medications became hold and IV hydration started. The most important
differential diagnosis was neuroleptic malignant syndrome. In lab
data, white blood cells and creatine phosphokinase were normal. Vital
signs were stable and no change in blood pressure or pulse rate were
detected. After hydration the patient became afebrile. So neuroleptic
malignant syndrome ruled out. The other differential diagnosis was
extrapyramidal symptom. By conservative management such as
administration of Inderal 10mg PO BID, hydration, and supportive
care after 4days the tremor and sialorrhea completely improved.
At this time the patient was oriented to time, place and person.
But she was restless and elevated mood was obvious. She reported
auditory and visual hallucination. So management of symptoms with
antipsychotic was necessary. This time quetiapine with dosage of
12.5mg PO BID began for the patient. After 10days the psychotic
symptoms disappeared and mood swing became partially controlled.
Quetiapine 25mg po BID were effective for control of symptoms and
the patient discharged from the psychosomatic ward at the end of 38
th
day of admission.
MOJ Womens Health. 2017;5(6):324‒325. 324
©2017 Hedayati. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.
Caution in co-administration of aripiprazole and
lithium in patients with learning disability
Volume 5 Issue 6 - 2017
Arvin Hedayati
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Shiraz University
of Medical Sciences, Iran
Correspondence: Arvin Hedayati, Assistant Professor,
Psychiatrist, fellowship of psychosomatic medicine Research
Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Department
of Psychiatry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, School of
Medicine, Shiraz, Iran, Tel 0989381079746,
Email hedayatia@sums.ac.ir
Received: August 01, 2017 | Published: September 13, 2017
Abstract
Bipolar disorder is a complicated syndrome. The first line of bipolar disorder treatment
is pharmaco-therapy. Aripiprazole is a safe and effective medication in acute phase of
bipolar disorder. This report is about a patient who suffers from comorbidity of bipolar
mood disorder and learning disability. The patient developed with extra pyramidal
symptom in combination of aripiprazole and lithium in doses lower than therapeutic
dosages. This finding can be explained by susceptibility of a traumatized brain to
neurological side effects of antipsychotics and drug interactions.
MOJ Women’s Health
Case Report
Open Access