Treatment Strategy for Refractory Schizophrenia: Drug Interaction Between Clozapine and Fluvoxamine
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2010-12-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Clozapine has been virtually the only psychopharmacological choice in patients with
schizophrenia who either did not response to typical neuroleptics or experienced severe
extrapyramidal side effects and consequently did not tolerate this medication. There are
patients who do not respond to clozapine, and the need to treat these severely ill patients
frequently compels clinicians to adopt therapeutic innovations that lack a sound empirical
basis. One strategy is the combination of various other somatic treatments with clozapine.
Recently, the investigators conduct a preliminary open trial to evaluate the safety and
efficacy of fluvoxamine coadministration with clozapine in refractory schizophrenic patients.
The combined treatment is well tolerated, and clinical improvement is observed in our
patients. And the concomitant fluvoxamine could attenuate the clozapine-induced weight gain
and metabolic disturbance. However, the effects of fluvoxamine on the safety and therapeutic
efficacy of clozapine need to be further clarified in double-blind study.