Olanzapine in the Treatment of Psychoses in Adolescence

Overview

Objective:
Atypical antipsychotics have become an important part of modern treatment of schizophrenia since the 1990s. They have been successfully used also in schizophrenia with an earlyonset.Method: 21 schizophrenic patients (11 boys, 10 girls) mean in the age 15.6 ± 1.5 years wereincluded in our retrospective study. 16 of these patients were treated for the first time, 5 patientswere treated repeatedly. 11 patients were considered treatment - resistant or treatment - intolerant before the use of olanzapine. The patients were evaluated according to their medical recordsprior to olanzapine administration and then after the 1st, 3rd, and 6th week of olanzapine administration. Efficacy of the treatment was evaluated using the first item of the CGI scale.Results: After the 6th week the average dose of olanzapine was 13.7 ± 4.7 mg. 81% of the patientswere evaluated as responders (62% full responders, 19% partial responders). There were 3 dropouts during the treatment. The inclusion score of CGI was 5.8 ± 1.0 and decreased consecutivelyduring the treatment to 4.1 ± 1.6 (p < 0.001), 3.0 ± 1.3 (p < 0.001), and 2.0 ± 1.1 (p < 0.001). Themedication was well tolerated.Conclusion: Our experience supports the use of olanzapine in the treatment of schizophrenicdisorders in adolescence.

Key words:
early - onset schizophrenia, antipsychotics, olanzapine.