At the time of this review , seven AAPs were available in Canada : aripiprazole clozapine olanzapine paliperidone quetiapine risperidone ziprasidone
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that requires lifelong treatment and is associated with symptoms that include hallucinations , delusions , cognitive impairment , disorganized thoughts , social withdrawal , and low motivation .
Antipsychotic medications are effective at relieving the symptoms of schizophrenia , and they form the foundation of treatment .
Amisulpride augmentation in patients with schizophrenia partially responsive or unresponsive to clozapine. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
INTRODUCTION Only limited data are available on the effectiveness of augmented antipsychotics to clozapine therapy in chronic schizophrenia . We conducted a r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled pilot study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of augmentation with the atypical neuroleptic amisulpride to clozapine in a small sample group of patients . METHODS 16 patients with the DSM-IV diagnosis of chronic schizophrenia and partially responsive to clozapine participated in this pilot study . Patients on a steady dose of clozapine r and omly received either clozapine and amisulpride 400 mg/day ( n=7 ) or clozapine and amisulpride 600 mg/day ( n=6 ) or clozapine and placebo for 6 weeks ( n=3 ) . Efficacy measures were BPRS , CGI , GAF and MADRS score . Side effects and prolactin levels were obtained . Primary outcome measure were BPRS score changes . RESULTS The beneficial effect of augmented amisulpride at a daily dose of 600 mg was observed in the mean scores of secondary outcome measures , as assessed by GAF , CGI and MADRS . Measures of primary objectives failed to improve significantly . No reduction in BPRS total score was achieved due to lack of power of the study , whereas the BPRS subscore " activity " had a tendency to improve . Amisulpride was more beneficial in a higher than a lower dose . No severe side-effects occurred , but tremor , bradykinesia , akathisia and elevated prolactin levels were recorded . DISCUSSION Augmented amisulpride improved the global outcome of patients suffering from chronic schizophrenia in this pilot study and tended to be a helpful treatment option in cases of partial or non-responsiveness to clozapine . Limitations emerge from the small sample size and lack of power . Further investigation requires a larger number of patients to be included
At the time of this review , seven AAPs were available in Canada : aripiprazole clozapine olanzapine paliperidone quetiapine risperidone ziprasidone
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that requires lifelong treatment and is associated with symptoms that include hallucinations , delusions , cognitive impairment , disorganized thoughts , social withdrawal , and low motivation .
Antipsychotic medications are effective at relieving the symptoms of schizophrenia , and they form the foundation of treatment .