Abstracts

Psychology and mental health

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Weight gain associated with clozapine

Article Abstract:

Clozapine is an antipsychotic drug which is currently being investigated for use in treating schizophrenics who are unresponsive to other therapy, and for treating tardive dyskinesia (involuntary muscle movement which is a common side effect of other antipsychotic drugs). The release of this drug for use in the United States is anticipated in the near future. Most of the side effects of clozapine are relatively harmless and some of the most common reactions are drowsiness, constipation, and dizziness. Seven cases in which schizophrenic patients were treated with clozapine are discussed. In six of these cases, weight gain was reported in conjunction with the drug treatment, and in five patients, the weight gain was considerable. The average period of treatment that was monitored was six and one half months, and the average weight gain was 25 pounds. Four of the six patients who gained weight were not overweight before clozapine treatment commenced. The authors are not aware of any other reports of weight gain as a side effect of clozapine. Weight gain is a typical side effect of the more commonly used antipsychotic drugs, and it is suggested that similar effects result from clozapine, despite its other unique properties. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Obesity, Psychoses, Psychotic disorders

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Clozapine and seizures

Article Abstract:

Clozapine is an antipsychotic drug that is being used to treat patients with schizophrenia. It has been found to cause a high incidence of seizures in patients who have never had seizures before, and this effect has been found to be dose-related. This is a report of patients who developed seizures as a result of taking the prescribed therapeutic dose of clozapine, or a subtherapeutic (lower) dose. At one clinic, 19 patients were put on clozapine, out of which four developed seizure activity. One patient had a history of seizures, one never actually had a seizure but had clinical findings of a possibly decreased seizure threshold, and the other two developed seizures after clozapine was initiated. The patient with the seizure history had a seizure at a very low initial dose of clozapine, and her anticonvulsant drug dose was then increased. The other three patients who had seizure activity were on high doses of over 600 milligrams of clozapine per day. When these dosages were reduced they all remained seizure-free. The mechanism which produces these seizures remains unknown. Guidelines established at this clinic for treating patients with clozapine are included. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Schizophrenia, Seizures (Medicine)

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Agranulocytosis after addition of risperidone to clozapine treatment

Article Abstract:

Agranulocytosis was reported in a 33-year-old patient with schizoaffective disorder following addition of risperidone to a stable regimen of clozapine. The patient had no episodes of leukopenia or neutropenia during the 22 months that she was treated with clozapine. Six weeks after risperidone was added to the treatment regimen, however, her WBC count fell to 2,500/cubic mm. and absolute neutrophil count dropped to 376/cubic mm.

Case studies, Letter to the Editor, Agranulocytosis, Granulocytopenia

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