Schoretsanitis G, de Filippis R, Brady BM, et al. - Despite extensive investigation for lithium renal effects, chronic kidney disease (CKD) prevalence varies in lithium-treated patients. Prevalence estimates and related moderators are investigated by performing a systematic review in PubMed/Embase, conducting a random-effects meta-analysis of studies examining CKD prevalence rates in lithium-treated patients.

• There were five, nine and six trials rated as high-, fair- and low-quality, respectively.

• Findings from these 20 studies (n = 25,907 patients) suggested an overall prevalence of 25.5% of impaired kidney function; prevalence rates were higher in elderly samples relative to mixed samples of elderly and non-elderly.

• Overall findings suggest that impaired kidney function may develop in one fourth of patients receiving long-term lithium.

• Relative to those receiving non-lithium-treatment, those receiving lithium treatment appeared to be at two-fold higher risk of developing impaired kidney function; the risk may increase for longer lithium-treatment duration.