Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0034065 (pulmonary embolism)
 14,979 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Recent studies have suggested that long-term lithium treatment reduces the high mortality rates of recurrent mood disorders in patients selected for and compliant with treatment at specialized lithium clinics. Whether lithium also generally reduces mortality in this diagnostic category under less select treatment conditions is a question of vital public health interest. The impact of prophylactic lithium on mortality was studied in a complete population of 362 unselected patients with DSM-III-R diagnoses of mood disorders or schizoaffective disorder, hospitalized at least once between 1970 and 1977 and treated with lithium for a minimum of one year. The patients were followed until 1991 or until date of death. The final analyses included 3911 patient years with lithium and, because of temporary or permanent discontinuations, 1274 patient years without lithium prophylaxis. A total of 129 deaths were recorded, compared with the 60.7 deaths that would normally be expected in the general population, yielding a Standard Mortality Ratio (SMR) of 2.1, significantly different from 1.0 (p < 0.001, 95% confidence limits 1.8-2.5). The relative risk of death was 1.7 times higher (p < 0.01, 95% confidence limits 1.2-2.6) during periods off lithium than during periods on lithium. The relative risk of suicide was 4.8 times higher off lithium than on lithium (p < 0.02, 95% confidence limits 1.1-12.6). Suicide, pneumonia, pyelonephritis, and, unexpectedly, pulmonary embolism contributed to the excess mortality both on and off lithium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Mortality in recurrent mood disorders during periods on and off lithium. A complete population study in 362 patients. 774 44

Lithium carbonate is a widely administered antimanic drug used for the treatment of bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and depression. Despite the established clinical efficacy of lithium, its usage must be approached with caution due to its narrow therapeutic index. Lithium poisoning results in multisystem toxicity, and characteristic clinical manifestations are directly correlated to serum lithium concentration. We describe a rather rare but fatal side effect of lithium: acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in a 46-year-old female on lithium for the treatment of bipolar disease. She was referred for generalized weakness, found in hemodynamic compromise, and had laboratory data significant for a lithium level of 3.3 mmole/L, needing emergent hemodialysis. Subsequently, she developed hypoxic respiratory failure requiring intubation. Her chest x-rays showed new bilateral pulmonary edema, the computed tomography scan showed extensive alveolar consolidation and V/Q scan of low probability for pulmonary embolism. She underwent 3 dialysis sessions and supportive care and was able to be extubated in 5 days. To our knowledge, 4 cases of ARDS after the onset of lithium toxicity have been documented. All patients presented with altered mental status at serum lithium levels ranging from 3.8 to 4.9 mmole/L and cardiogenic etiologies in addition to other likely causes of ARDS were ruled out in each case. The patients were treated with saline hydration (50%) or hemodialysis (50%), indicating that hemodialysis may be a permissive factor in lithium-associated ARDS development rather than a required component. Taken together, we believe that lithium is a likely culprit in the initiation of ARDS and propose the addition of ARDS to the family of clinical manifestations of severe lithium toxicity.
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PMID:A rare case of acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to acute lithium intoxication. 2173 31