| CASE REPORT |
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| Year : 2011 | Volume
: 20
| Issue : 2 | Page : 142-144 |
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Aripiprazole for acute mania in an elderly person
Balaji Bharadwaj, Shivanand Kattimani, Anuriddha Mukherjee
Department of Psychiatry, JIPMER, Puducherry, India
Correspondence Address:
Balaji Bharadwaj
Department of Psychiatry, JIPMER, Puducherry- 605 006
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0972-6748.102532
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New-onset bipolar disorder is rare in the elderly. Symptom profile is similar to that in young adults but the elderly are more likely to have neurological co-morbidities. There are no case reports of elderly mania being treated with aripiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic. A 78-year-old gentleman presented to us with symptoms suggestive of mania of 1 month's duration. He had similar history 3 years ago and a family history of postpartum psychosis in his mother. There were no neurological signs on examination and work-up for an organic etiology was negative except for age-related cerebral atrophy. He improved with aripiprazole and tolerated the medications well. The use of psychotropic medications in the elderly is associated with side-effects of sedation, increased cardiovascular risk, and greater risk of extra-pyramidal side-effects. The use of partial dopaminergic antagonists like aripiprazole may be useful in the balancing of effects and side-effects. |
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