Renal Lithium Clearance as a Rapid and Accurate Predictor of Maintenance Dose

The authors describe a method for predicting maintenance lithium dose based on a 4-hour urine collection for lithium clearance. Urine collections are monitored by simultaneous measurement of creatinine clearance. (Am J Psychiatry 139:1625-1626, 1982) A practical method of predicting lithium dose could shorten hospitalizations and identify patients at risk for developing lithium toxicity. In 17 trials with 15 subjects we accurately predicted individual dose using a method based on a 4-hour urine collection for lithium clearance. We found that reliability ofthe urine collec-tion could be monitored by simultaneous measurement of creatinine clearance. Method The 15 subjects were inpatients who had been admitted consecu