Prediction of lithium response

Abstract

Even though Li is established as an effective agent in the management of primary affective disorders, not all manic depressive patients respond favorably to Li therapy. An attempt was made to delineate Li responders from non-responders in a group of 54 manic-depressive patients on the basis of an assessment which included 64 variables. The results showed that only 2/3 were pure responders. Females, patients with prior manic episodes, onset of the illness initially with a manic episode and premorbid psychothymic personality were all indicators of favorable long-term Li response. Patients with retarded depression, severe anxiety, thought disorder and those with higher scores on the psychopathic deviate and paranoia scales of the MMPI [Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory] were poor Li responders. Only a few of the differences between responders and non-responders were statistically significant. The study suggests a number of predictive variables for the identification of Li responders.