J. Scherer et al., D-2-DOPAMINE-RECEPTOR OCCUPANCY DURING TREATMENT WITH HALOPERIDOL DECANOATE, European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience, 247(2), 1997, pp. 104-106
We investigated in an open, explanatory study a total of 24 patients m
eeting DSM-III-R criteria for schizophrenia. Eighteen patients were tr
eated for at least 4 weeks with a fixed dose of orally administered ha
loperidol for at least 4 weeks (mean daily dosage ranging from 0.07 to
0.35 mg/kg b.w.), and 6 patients received haloperidol decanoate with
a fixed dose for at least 4 months (dosage range 50-150 mg/4 weeks; ca
lculated mean daily dosage ranging from 0.02 to 0.09 mg/kg b.w.). One
week after injection of haloperidol decanoate, the single photon emiss
ion computed tomography examination was performed. Our data suggest th
at D-2-dopamine-receptor occupancy of 50 mg/4 weeks haloperidol decano
ate 1 week after injection corresponds to an oral dose of 4.5 mg/day h
aloperidol.