HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS British Journal of Psychiatry Advances in Psychiatric Treatment All RCPsych Journals		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by EAGLES, J. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by EAGLES, J. M.

Monitoring patients on lithium

Grampain Primary Care NHS Trust, Royal Cornhill Hospital, Aberdeen AB25 2ZH

Sir: I read the recent paper by Nicholson and Fitzmaurice (Psychiatric Bulletin, September 2002, 26, 348-351) with interest. Their literature review preceded the publication of our fairly recent study (Eagles et al, 2000) that investigated lithium monitoring before and after the distribution of clinical practice guidelines in the north-east of Scotland. From our findings, I would wish to extend, and to mildly contest, some of the points made by Nicholson and Fitzmaurice.

With regard to specific points within the Lothian Guidelines, there are two points. Thyroid dysfunction occurs, commonly, more in women than in men and especially during the first 2 years of lithium treatment (Johnston & Eagles, 1999). It is probably logical, therefore, certainly in the early years of lithium treatment, to monitor thyroid function at 6-monthly intervals. Second, I agree that there is no good evidence on which to base advised serum levels; Nicholson and Fitzmaurice selected 0.6-1.0 mmol/l, while we advise 0.5-1.0 mmol/l. It is important to note that, within this range, some patients may respond only at higher serum levels (Gelenberg et al, 1989).

As we did in north-east Scotland (Eagles et al, 2000), Nicholson and Fitzmaurice intend to audit the effect of circulating lithium monitoring guidelines in Lothian. We found that guidelines significantly improved the monitoring of renal and thyroid function. More importantly, however, standards of monitoring were poor before and after guideline distribution, and remained even poorer among patients who were no longer in contact with psychiatric services. We endorsed Cookson's (1997) conclusion that all patients on lithium should remain in contact with an experienced psychiatrist.

References

COOKSON, J. (1997) Lithium: balancing risks and benefits. British Journal of Psychiatry, 171, 120 -124.[Free Full Text]

EAGLES, J. M., McCANN, I., MacLEOD, T. N. N., et al (2000) Lithium monitoring before and after the distribution of clinical practice guidelines. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 101, 349 -353.[CrossRef][Medline]

GELENBERG, A. J., KANE, J. M., KELLER, M. B., et al (1989) Comparison of standard and low serum levels of lithium for maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder. New England Journal of Medicine, 321, 1489 -1493.[Abstract]

JOHNSTON, A. M. & EAGLES, J. M. (1999) Lithium-associated clinical hypothyroidism. Prevalence and risk factors. British Journal of Psychiatry, 175, 336 -339.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

This Article Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by EAGLES, J. M. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by EAGLES, J. M.