6533b830fe1ef96bd1296657

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Bipolar II disorders in six first-degree relatives

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description

As proposed by Dunner et al (1976), the distinction of bipolar !! disorder from other effective disorders has been included in Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) (Spitzer et al 1978) but not in DSM-IiI-R or ICD 10 (APA 1987, WHO 1991). Family studies indicate that bipolar 1I disorder might represent a distinct diagnostic entity with a common genetic background (Gershon et al 1982; Dunner 1983; Endicott et al 1985; Andreasen et al 1987). Familial aggregation, diagnostic stability, and course of illness represent external validators for nosologic classifications (Kendler 1990). Therefore, pedigrees with multiple cases of diagnostically stable bipolar Ii disorder without cases of bipolar 1 disorder or unipolar depression would argue for a distinct nosologic category. To our knowledge, this is the third pedigree with multiple bipolar I1 family members to be published (DePaulo et al 1990; Kuyler 1988).