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A second trial of clozapine in a case of granulocytopenia
Author(s) -
Silvestrini Cristiana,
Arcangeli Tiziana,
Biondi Massimo,
Pancheri Paola
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
human psychopharmacology: clinical and experimental
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.461
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1099-1077
pISSN - 0885-6222
DOI - 10.1002/1099-1077(200006)15:4<275::aid-hup171>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - clozapine , olanzapine , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , drug , medicine , clinical trial , thioridazine , pediatrics , psychiatry , pharmacology , chlorpromazine
It is generally believed that agranulocytosis, a major problem with clozapine treatment, will tend to occur dose‐dependently once it develops in an individual. Therefore, despite clinical progress obtained, the drug has to be discontinued and treatment shifts to another drug. We report on the case of a 29‐year‐old woman with DSM‐IV undifferentiated schizophrenia who developed agranulocytosis after 5 years of 300 mg/day clozapine treatment. The drug was withdrawn and two trials with thioridazine and olanzapine were unsuccessful. Four months after clozapine suspension, we decided to make a further trial, reintroducing clozapine titrated up to 500 mg/day. The patient's symptoms improved and blood leukocytes remained within the normal range after eight months. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.