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    World J Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Sep 11:1-5. [Epub ahead of print]

    Aripiprazole in the pharmacotherapy of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome in adult patients.

    Kawohl W, Schneider F, Vernaleken I, Neuner I.

    Department of General and Social Psychiatry ZH West, Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

    Despite the ongoing development of neuroleptics, typical or first-generation neuroleptics are still considered as the first choice in the treatment of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS). In many European countries, tiapride is the first line of treatment favoured in most cases, while risperidone, pimozide and haloperidol are listed as second choice. Unfortunately, antipsychotics often show tachyphylactic effects in the treatment of GTS so that a switch to another neuroleptic agent becomes inevitable. Thus it is important to ensure a wide selection of different drugs is available. Another promising candidate in the treatment of tics may be aripiprazole, a D(2)-receptor partial agonist. We present the retrospective analysis of 10 clinical cases of adult patients from the tic clinics in Aachen (Germany) and Zurich (Switzerland) who were treated with aripiprazole. Tics and disturbances were assessed using the Yale Global Tic Severity Scale (YGTSS). All YGTSS-subscores, with the exception of the complexity of vocal tics, improved significantly. The data includes three cases with long-term intake for at least 18 months. During this period, no tachyphylactic effect was visible. A double-blind trial against placebo or other neuroleptics is advisable to verify the efficacy of aripiprazole in the pharmacotherapy of GTS.

    PMID: 18843565 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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    Patient drug information

    • Haloperidol

      Haloperidol is used to treat psychotic disorders (conditions that cause difficulty telling the difference between things or ideas that are real and things or ideas that are not real). Haloperidol is also used to control ...

    • Risperidone (Risperdal®, Risperdal® M-TAB®)

      Risperidone is used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia (a mental illness that causes disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions) in adults and teenagers 13 years of ...

    • Pimozide (Orap®)

      Pimozide is used to control motor or verbal tics (an uncontrollable need to repeat certain movements or sounds) caused by Tourette's disorder (condition characterized by motor or verbal tics). Pimozide should only be use...

    • » See all 4 drug reports ...