Combined treatment of tardive dyskinesia with clonidine and neuroleptics: a follow-up study of three cases for three years.

Three cases of tardive dyskinesia with psychotic symptoms (one presenile psychosis; two schizophrenia) were successfully treated with both clonidine and neuroleptics for 3 years. The dyskinesia abolished or reduced by clonidine returned several months after discontinuation of clonidine. During the follow-up study, it was observed that combining neuroleptics with clonidine was superior to thioridazine, levomepromazine, or sulpiride for controlling the dyskinesia. These findings suggest that noradrenergic involvement is important in tardive dyskinesia and that other subtypes of dyskinesia might exist.