Past Issues
High-dose Quetiapine for the Treatment of
Schizophrenia with Inadequate Response to
Quetiapine 600 mg/day
Kuen-Hong Wu, Hung-Yu Chan, Chun-Yi Wu, Happy Kuy-Lok Tan, Hsiao-Ju Sun
Objectives: In this study, we aimed to determine the effi cacy of high-dose
quetiapine (≧800 mg/day) for Taiwanese patients with schizophrenia and with inadequate
response to quetiapine 600 mg/day of more than 4 weeks. Methods: The
study was a six-week, open-label study. We assessed patients’ treatment response
and side effects with clinical global impression-severity (CGI-S), brief psychiatric
rating scale (BPRS), and extrapyramidal syndrome rating scale (ESRS). Results:
Six patients participated in this study. After this six-week study, the mean dose of
quetiapine was 1000 mg/day. The mean scores of BPRS and CGI-S were improved
from 44.2 ± 5.5 to 35.5 ± 18.1 (p=0.344) and 4.7 ± 0.8 to 3.7 ± 1.8 (p=0.084), respectively.
Four patients met the criteria of treatment responder and no patients
suffered from severe adverse events. Conclusion: Although no signifi cant statistical
differences in this study were observed due to small sample size, the improvements
of mean total scores of BPRS and CGI-S were 19.7% and 21.3%, respectively,
and 66.7% of the patients met treatment responder criteria. For Taiwanese
patients with schizophrenia and with inadequate treatment response to quetiapine
600 mg/day, we suggest that high-dose quetiapine can be effective and tolerable.
quetiapine (≧800 mg/day) for Taiwanese patients with schizophrenia and with inadequate
response to quetiapine 600 mg/day of more than 4 weeks. Methods: The
study was a six-week, open-label study. We assessed patients’ treatment response
and side effects with clinical global impression-severity (CGI-S), brief psychiatric
rating scale (BPRS), and extrapyramidal syndrome rating scale (ESRS). Results:
Six patients participated in this study. After this six-week study, the mean dose of
quetiapine was 1000 mg/day. The mean scores of BPRS and CGI-S were improved
from 44.2 ± 5.5 to 35.5 ± 18.1 (p=0.344) and 4.7 ± 0.8 to 3.7 ± 1.8 (p=0.084), respectively.
Four patients met the criteria of treatment responder and no patients
suffered from severe adverse events. Conclusion: Although no signifi cant statistical
differences in this study were observed due to small sample size, the improvements
of mean total scores of BPRS and CGI-S were 19.7% and 21.3%, respectively,
and 66.7% of the patients met treatment responder criteria. For Taiwanese
patients with schizophrenia and with inadequate treatment response to quetiapine
600 mg/day, we suggest that high-dose quetiapine can be effective and tolerable.
| Key Word | schizophrenia, inadequate response, quetiapine, high dose |
|---|