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Clinical implications of determination of plasma haloperidol levels
Author(s) -
Santos J. L.,
Cabranes J. A.,
Almoguera I.,
Ramos J. A.,
Vazquez C.,
Angeles F.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1989.tb10269.x
Subject(s) - haloperidol , brief psychiatric rating scale , psychosis , plasma levels , plasma concentration , medicine , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , rating scale , psychology , anesthesia , pharmacology , psychiatry , developmental psychology , dopamine
– The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical utility of monitoring plasma levels, since the utility of monitoring is not yet well established. After a washout period, 30 schizophrenic patients were given fixed doses of haloperidol for 3 weeks. A U‐shaped second‐grade polynomic relationship (R = 0.69) was found between steady state of haloperidol and percentage improvement in total score on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. The interval of effective concentrations was between 12 and 59 ng/ml. Fourteen of the 15 patients who had a steady state of haloperidol within that therapeutic interval were responders: only 5 out of the 15 patients below the therapeutic interval were responders. None of the 5 patients who had concentrations below 8 ng/ml was a responder. Furthermore, responder patients showed a steady‐state level of haloperidol significantly higher than that of nonresponders. These data suggest that plasma levels of haloperidol are predictors of therapeutic response in schizophrenic disorders.