Switch from Risperidone to Perospirone in Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia

Excerpt

When treating patients with chronic schizophrenia, the efficacy and safety of atypical antipsychotics in comparison with each other as well as with typical antipsychotics such as haloperidol have been well studied over the last few years.[1] Recent reports, such as the well designed study performed by Csernansky et al.,[2] have shown that adult patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders have a lower risk of relapse if they are treated with risperidone than with haloperidol. Thus, the beneficial effects of switching from typical antipsychotics to risperidone in patients with chronic schizophrenia have been well established. In contrast to this intensive attention to risperidone, postmarketing clinical studies on perospirone, another serotonin-dopamine antagonist, are virtually nonexistent. In the present study, we attempted to examine whether risperidone could be safely replaced by perospirone in patients with chronic schizophrenia. Furthermore, we identified aspects of drug efficacy specific to perospirone, as suggested by our preliminary study.[3] …