Long-Term Lithium Use in the Younger Population: Do the Benefits Outweigh the Risks? - A Case Report
Date of Presentation
5-5-2022 12:00 AM
College
School of Osteopathic Medicine
Poster Abstract
For decades lithium has been the mainstay treatment for bipolar disorder. While its side effect profile is extensive and varied its most notable adverse effect, and one most feared by treating clinicians, is nephrotoxicity/ end-stage renal disease (ESRD). While the link between long-term lithium use and ESRD has been accepted by the medical community at large for many years, more recent scientific studies call the association into question. In fact, newer studies on the association between Li use and ESRD have shown a negative/inconclusive correlation. Despite this controversy the consensus still remains that ESRD secondary to long-term Li use is mostly found in the elderly population with decades of Li use. In this case, we present and discuss the case of a patient that appears to be an outlier to this trend: a young African-American patient who developed ESRD in her teens after only being on lithium for half a decade.
Keywords
Lithium, Bipolar Disorder, Chronic Kidney Failure, Case Reports
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences | Nephrology | Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms | Pharmaceutical Preparations | Psychiatry
Document Type
Poster
Included in
Nephrology Commons, Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Commons, Pharmaceutical Preparations Commons, Psychiatry Commons
Long-Term Lithium Use in the Younger Population: Do the Benefits Outweigh the Risks? - A Case Report
For decades lithium has been the mainstay treatment for bipolar disorder. While its side effect profile is extensive and varied its most notable adverse effect, and one most feared by treating clinicians, is nephrotoxicity/ end-stage renal disease (ESRD). While the link between long-term lithium use and ESRD has been accepted by the medical community at large for many years, more recent scientific studies call the association into question. In fact, newer studies on the association between Li use and ESRD have shown a negative/inconclusive correlation. Despite this controversy the consensus still remains that ESRD secondary to long-term Li use is mostly found in the elderly population with decades of Li use. In this case, we present and discuss the case of a patient that appears to be an outlier to this trend: a young African-American patient who developed ESRD in her teens after only being on lithium for half a decade.