Long-term treatment response to continuous cycling course in bipolar disorders: A meta-analysis.

In a pioneering work, Koukopoulos et al. (1980) identified four patterns of course in bipolar disorders (BD): 1) manic –depression-free interval (MDI; in which the cycle starts with (hypo)mania, followed by depression and then by a free interval); 2) depression–mania- free interval (DMI; in which the cycle starts with depression, followed by (hypo)mania, and then by a free interval); 3) continuous cycling course (CCC), with depressive and (hypo)manic episodes alternating without a real free interval (i.e., an interval of at least one month, without significant mood symptoms); and 4) irregular course of cycle sequence (IRR; in which the sequence of depression–(hypo)mania–free interval is irregular).

Source: Journal of Affective Disorders - August 14, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: Antonio Tundo, Franco De Crescenzo, Davide Gori, Paola Cavalieri Tags: Review article Source Type: research