The late-onset bipolar disease: A case report

Abstract

The prevalence of bipolar disorder after 65 years is 0.1 to 0.4%. Mania represents 4.6% to 18.5% of all psychiatric admissions in geriatrics in the USA. It has some specificity in terms of clinical presentation, evolution, prognosis and treatment.

We report the case of a patient who presented a first manic episode after 65 years. E.H, AP, 67 years old, single, without personal and familial psychiatric history, addressed to psychiatric emergencies for psychomotor agitation and euphoric mood. He presented two months ago a manic access with almost total insomnia, euphoria, psychomotor agitation and delusions of grandeur. The balance sheet reveals no incorrections (blood count, thyroid balance, serology: TPHA, VDRL, hepatitis B and C, HIV). The cerebral CT was normal. The patient has been received a quetiapine 200 mg/day, olanxapine 10 mg/day and valproate 1000 mg/day. The evolution after three weeks was favorable.

The late-onset bipolar disorder is characterized by: a less intense euphoria, replaced by anger and irritability, a more elements of persecution, disinhibiting and impulsivity. Respecting to that, this case is an exception. The most common confounding symptoms and behavioral disorders. A higher frequency of neurological diseases is noted in elderly subjects with a bipolar disorder and, so, a neuropsychiatric rigorous evaluation is fundamental to exclude the possibility of an organic pathology for the manic access. The prescription of psychotropic drugs in the elderly must be under monitoring.

Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.