Am J Psychiatry 1976; 133:440-443
Copyright © 1976 by American Psychiatric Association
The 24-hour lithium level as a prognosticator of dosage requirements: a 2-year follow-up study
TB Cooper and GM Simpson
The authors have previously described a technique whereby individual
lithium dosage requirements can be predicted from 24-hour blood samples.
Further experience over a 2-year period has shown the predictions to be
reproducible over time. A micromethod for lithium determination is
described, as are several cases in which aberrant results were found to
indicate inadequate laboratory techniques or patients' failure to take
medication. Because the technique reveals immediately those patients at the
extremes of dosage ranges, toxicity and the need for frequent sampling can
be avoided.
