Pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia.

We present the pharmacological treatment of schizophrenia based on a simple algorithm that starts with the most important decisions starting from the choice of an antipsychotic drug for an acutely ill patient and ends with maintenance treatment. It represents experts opinions, a formal guideline development process was not followed. Concerning acute treatment we present recommendations for the choice of drug in acutely patients, the treatment of agitated patients, persistent depression, negative symptoms and treatment resistance. Concerning maintenance treatment with antipsychotics we discuss indication, choice of drug, continuous versus intermittent treatment, duration of relapse prevention and dose.