Key Words

Bipolar disorder W Randomized controlled trial W Lithium W Carbamazepine W Treatment outcome W Suicide, attempted In a randomized clinical trial with an observation period of 2.5 years, the differential efficacy of lithium versus car-bamazepine was compared in 171 bipolar patients (DSM-IV). In order to investigate the efficacy of the two drugs in clearly defined subsamples, a series of sub-group analyses was carried out. First, patients with a bipolar I disorder (n = 114) were analyzed separately. In these patients, lithium was superior to carbamazepine. In contrast, carbamazepine was at least equally as effica-cious as lithium in the subsample of patients with bipolar II disorder or bipolar disorder not otherwise specifie