Efficacy and tolerability of aripiprazole compared to perphenazine in treatment-resistant schizophrenia

Aripiprazole is a novel compound for the treatment of schizophrenia. Due to its unique mechanism of action as dopamine-serotonin system stabilizer it could be of high value on treatment resistant patients. In a multicenter double-blind study patients were treated with an atypical antipsychotic agent (olanzapine or risperidone) for 4–6 weeks to prove therapy resistance. Afterwards they were either treated with aripiprazole 15 or 30mg/d (n=154) or with perphenazine 8–64mg/d (n=146). 27% of the patients that did not respond to olanzapine or risperidone improved under aripiprazole, 25% under perphenazine. Aripiprazole treated patients showed a trend towards better results on the quality of life scale (QLS) and had less side effects regarding extrapyramidal signs, ECG or prolactin levels compared to perphenazine.