Long-term safety of ziprasidone in schizophrenic patients: an open trial

A. Sciarretta, G. Piazzi

Dipartimento di Salute Mentale, ASL Tivoli, Tivoli, Rome, Italy. an.sciarretta@libero.it

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• Psychiatry

OBJECTIVES: The Authors report the safety results of the extension phase of three multicenter, phase III studies, which evaluated ziprasidone in schizophrenic patients switching from another antipsychotic agent or who required a transition from intramuscular to oral ziprasidone.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 331 patients were evaluated, with a mean follow-up of 22 months (range: 3-73 months).

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Ziprasidone appeared well tolerated; most adverse events were of mild or moderate severity. No new safety or tolerability issues emerged. However, the authors observed a high number of withdrawals, possibly associated with a lack of long-term compliance, which is a common feature in schizophrenic patients.

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