CONCLUSIONS The effects of treatment with clomipramine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRIs : fluvoxamine , sertraline , fluoxetine , citalopram , and escitalopram ) proved to be similar , except for the lower adherence rate in case of clomipramine because of its side effects .
PURPOSE This systematic review examines the efficacy of pharmacological therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder ( OCD ) , addressing two major issues : which treatment is most effective in treating the patient 's symptoms and which is beneficial for maintaining remission .
Low-dose risperidone augmentation of fluvoxamine treatment in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study
According to previous data , the addition of risperidone in obsessive-compulsive patients refractory to serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SRIs ) is shown to be a safe and effective treatment strategy . The aims of our study were to evaluate the efficacy of risperidone addition , in comparison to placebo , in fluvoxamine-refractory obsessive-compulsive patients and to investigate whether risperidone could boost the efficacy of fluvoxamine in fluvoxamine-responder patients . Subjects were 45 obsessive-compulsive in patients , consecutively recruited at the Department of Neurosciences at the San Raffaele Hospital , Milan . Thirty-nine patients completed the study . All patients received 12 weeks of a st and ardized open-label fluvoxamine monotherapy and then continued for 6 weeks with placebo or risperidone in a double-blind design . Results showed a significant effect of risperidone addition , at the end of the double-blind phase ( 18th week ) , only for fluvoxamine-refractory patients . Five patients on risperidone ( 50 % ) and two ( 20 % ) on placebo became responders , with a Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale ( Y-BOCS ) decrease > or = 35 % . Risperidone was generally well tolerated , except for a mild transient sedation and a mild increase in appetite . This preliminary study suggests that even very low ( 0.5 mg ) risperidone doses are effective in OC patients who were nonresponders to a st and ardized treatment with fluvoxamine
CONCLUSIONS The effects of treatment with clomipramine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRIs : fluvoxamine , sertraline , fluoxetine , citalopram , and escitalopram ) proved to be similar , except for the lower adherence rate in case of clomipramine because of its side effects .
PURPOSE This systematic review examines the efficacy of pharmacological therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder ( OCD ) , addressing two major issues : which treatment is most effective in treating the patient 's symptoms and which is beneficial for maintaining remission .