HALOPERIDOL BLOOD-LEVELS AND CLINICAL OUTCOME - A METAANALYSIS OF STUDIES RELEVANT TO TESTING THE THERAPEUTIC WINDOW HYPOTHESIS

Haloperidol, the most studied antipsychotic drug, is the only one abou t which reliable statements on the relationship between blood levels a nd clinical outcome can be made. A systematic overview was undertaken to determine whether there was an optimum blood concentration range fo r clinical efficacy. Eighteen published studies which provided individ ual patient data in tables or graphs were reviewed. Clinical benefits tended to decline when the haloperidol blood concentration was increas ed above 26 ng/ml. Our data support the existence of a therapeutic win dow between 4 and 26 ng/ml for haloperidol in the treatment of schizop hrenic, schizoaffective and schizophreniform disorders.