Updates in treating comorbid bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder: A systematic review

Background: In the last five years, the debate around the comorbidity between bipolar disorder (BD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has flourished within the international psychiatric community and several studies have been published on therapeutic strategies. Methods: An update of our previous systematic review was conducted on clinical management of comorbid BD-OCD patients. Relevant papers published from July 1st 2013 to September 30th 2018 were identified searching the electronic databases MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library. Results: Fifteen studies were included. In all selected studies BD-OCD patients received mood stabilizers, alone or with second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs). Aripiprazole augmentation demonstrated to be effective as maintenance therapy and for treating obsessive-compulsive symptoms during manic episodes (40% of the studies, 6/15). Addition of antidepressants to mood stabilizers led to clinical remission of both conditions in only one case report. Limitations: Almost 50% of the selected studies are case reports. Enrolment of subjects mainly from outpatient specialty units might have introduced selection bias and limited community-wide generalizability. Conclusions: Mood stabilization should be the primary goal in treating BD-OCD patients. Aripiprazole augmentation to lithium carbonate seemed to be the best option in treatment-resistance comorbid patients. Addition of SRIs may be needed only in a minority of BD patients with refractory OCD.