This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Objective: To compare olanzapine and clozapine for safety and efficacy measures of psychosis and motor function in patients with PD and chronic hallucinations.
Background: Hallucinations occur in approximately one third of patients with PD treated chronically with dopaminergic drugs. Although clozapine is known to be an effective antipsychotic agent that does not significantly exacerbate parkinsonism, its use requires frequent blood count assessment. Olanzapine is another novel antipsychotic that is not associated with blood dyscrasia, and if equally effective could become the preferred drug for treating hallucinations in subjects with PD.
Methods: A randomized, double-blind, parallel comparison of olanzapine and clozapine in patients with PD with chronic hallucinations was conducted. The primary outcome measure was the Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms (SAPS) for psychotic symptoms. The Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) motor subscale was used as a secondary outcome measure and as a safety monitoring tool.
Results: After 15 patients had completed the study, safety stopping rules were invoked because of exacerbated parkinsonism in olanzapine-treated subjects. UPDRS motor impairment scores from baseline to study end significantly increased with olanzapine treatment, and change scores between the olanzapine and clozapine groups significantly differed. The primary clinical domains responsible for the motor decline were gait and bradykinesia. Even with a smaller patient number than originally anticipated, clozapine significantly improved hallucinations and overall behavioral assessment, whereas olanzapine had no effect.
Conclusions: At the doses studied, olanzapine aggravates parkinsonism in comparison with clozapine and should not be regularly used in the management of hallucinations in patients with PD.
- Received November 11, 1999.
- Accepted May 12, 2000.
AAN Members
We have changed the login procedure to improve access between AAN.com and the Neurology journals. If you are experiencing issues, please log out of AAN.com and clear history and cookies. (For instructions by browser, please click the instruction pages below). After clearing, choose preferred Journal and select login for AAN Members. You will be redirected to a login page where you can log in with your AAN ID number and password. When you are returned to the Journal, your name should appear at the top right of the page.
AAN Non-Member Subscribers
Purchase access
Disputes & Debates: Rapid online correspondence
NOTE: All authors' disclosures must be entered and current in our database before comments can be posted. Enter and update disclosures at http://submit.neurology.org. Exception: replies to comments concerning an article you originally authored do not require updated disclosures.
- Stay timely. Submit only on articles published within 6 months of issue date.
- Do not be redundant. Read any comments already posted on the article prior to submission.
- 200 words maximum.
- 5 references maximum. Reference 1 must be the article on which you are commenting.
- 5 authors maximum. Exception: replies can include all original authors of the article.
- Submitted comments are subject to editing and editor review prior to posting.