Quetiapine in schizophrenic patients: A high- and low-dose double-blind comparison

Quetiapine belongs to the group of newer-generation atypical antipsychotic agents. Numerous controlled double-blind trials have shown the efficacy and tolerability of quetiapine in treating schizophrenic patients. A randomize d double-blind study was carried out at the Psychiatric Section, Department of Neuroscience, Turin University, with the aim of optimizing the daily do se of quetiapine in treating patients with acute exacerbation of chronic or subchronic schizophrenia. The study compared three treatments (que tiapine 50 mg/day; 150 mg x 3/day; 225 mg x 2/day). Six in-patients were treated f or six weeks, during which both the clinical symptoms and any side-effects were monitored. Observation confirmed the clinical efficacy of quetiapine a t the 450 mg/day dose both on positive (from the second week) and negative symptoms (from the third week). Neither severe adverse events nor extrapyra midal symptoms were recorded. The comparison of two versus three daily dose s evidenced no significant clinical difference. In one case treatment conti nued for over five years, confirming the long-term efficacy and safety of t he molecular.