[The first long-acting atypical antipsychotic: new milestone in the treatment of schizophrenia].

Schizophrenia is a major chronic psychiatric disorder associated with significant impairment in psychosocial functioning and reduced quality of life. The major goals of current pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia are to achieve continuous relief from psychotic symptoms, to reduce relapse rates, and to provide maximal patient functioning and improved quality of life. To attain these goals, treatment needs to be effective, safe, and well tolerated. It is now generally accepted that the use of second generation or atypical antipsychotics for schizophrenia represents and advance over conventional antipsychotics. However, therapeutic compliance continues to be a major problems of the maintenance treatment. The long-acting conventional injectable antipsychotics might increase compliance, but they have become unpopular, largely because of the associated adverse events--akathisia, akinesia, and weight gain. Long-acting risperidone is the first atypical antipsychotic to be available in a long-acting formulation, which combines the benefits of risperidone with the advantages of a long-acting injection. It is dosed at 25-50 mg every 2 weeks. Available data on long acting atypical risperidone suggest that it is safe, efficacious and well tolerated. Long acting risperidone initiated during inpatient and outpatient treatment may be an important strategy in improving long-term outcomes among patients with schizophrenia. This article provides practical advice to physicians on he characteristics of patients who would benefit from treatment with long acting atypical antipsychotic agent and offers suggestions on how to initiate treatment.