The prevalence of neurodevelopmental abnormalities among children of bipolar patients

Introduction Bipolar disorder is one of the most distinct syndromes in psychiatry and has been described in numerous cultures over the course of history. Aim of the work The aim of the current work was to study the neurodevelopmental abnormalities among children of bipolar disorder patients. Participants and methods The participants of the present study were the children of 30 patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder (I or II) according to the DSM-IV criteria. Results An overall 1.8% of children of bipolar patients had delayed motor milestones, 3.6% of them had delayed language development and 8.9% of them had nocturnal enuresis. The mean score of the Waldrop scale among children of bipolar patients was 1.16 ± 1.203, and high arched palate was the most prevalent anomaly (17 out of 56; 30.35%). As regards intelligence, 76.8% of children were of normal intelligence (between 90 and 110), 5.4% of children were dull-normal intelligence (between 80 and 89), and for the remaining children (17.9%) intelligence was not evaluated as they were younger than 4 years. No neuromotor abnormalities and neurological soft signs were observed in children of bipolar patients. Conclusion It is recommended to follow-up these children to observe any neurological soft signs that may develop in them, as well as any disorder that may develop in them later on during adulthood. However, this subject has to be further studied on a wider scale in the near future. Moreover, a controlled study should be conducted.