RESULTS There is sufficient evidence for a Grade A recommendation of the use of olanzapine plus fluoxetine at reducing depressive symptoms in bipolar depression and of quetiapine at high doses for depressive symptoms occurring during mixed episodes .
These results mostly overlap with the approved treatments for bipolar depression in adults
BACKGROUND The management of depressive and mixed symptoms in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder ( BD ) remains a matter of debate .
The goal of this review is , thus , to systematic ally examine the impact of atypical antipsychotics ( AAPs ) and mood stabilisers in the treatment of bipolar depression and /or mixed states .
An open-label trial of aripiprazole monotherapy in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder.
INTRODUCTION Aripiprazole is a novel second-generation antipsychotic approved for the treatment of bipolar disorder in adults but there is no systematic data available in pediatric bipolar disorder . METHODS This was an 8-week , open-label , prospect i ve study of aripiprazole 9.4+/-4.2 mg/day monotherapy to assess the efficacy and tolerability of this compound in treating pediatric bipolar disorder . Assessment s included the Young Mania Rating Scale , Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale , and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale . Adverse events were assessed through spontaneous self-reports , vital signs weight monitoring , and laboratory analysis . RESULTS Fifteen of the 19 bipolar youth ( 79 % ) completed the study .  Aripiprazole treatment was associated with clinical ly and statistically significant improvement in mean Young Mania Rating Scale scores ( -18.0+/-6.9 , P<.0001 ) . With the important exception of two cases of extrapyramidal symptoms that precipitated dropout , aripiprazole was well tolerated with no statistically significant increase in body weight ( 1.8+/-1.7 kg , P=.2 ) . CONCLUSION Open-label aripiprazole treatment was beneficial in the treatment of mania in youth with bipolar disorder . Future placebo-controlled , double-blind studies are warranted
RESULTS There is sufficient evidence for a Grade A recommendation of the use of olanzapine plus fluoxetine at reducing depressive symptoms in bipolar depression and of quetiapine at high doses for depressive symptoms occurring during mixed episodes .
These results mostly overlap with the approved treatments for bipolar depression in adults
BACKGROUND The management of depressive and mixed symptoms in children and adolescents with bipolar disorder ( BD ) remains a matter of debate .
The goal of this review is , thus , to systematic ally examine the impact of atypical antipsychotics ( AAPs ) and mood stabilisers in the treatment of bipolar depression and /or mixed states .