A long-term study of penfluridol in chronic schizophrenia.

Penfluridol, a member of the novel diphenylbutylpiperidine class of antipsychotic drugs, is the first long-acting oral neuroleptic. The population of the present study consisted of 24 chronic schizophrenic patients (14 males, ten females) whose treatment with penfluridol was initiated in our previous open/double-blind trial lasting 32 weeks 1; mean age was 42.2 years and mean duration of illness, 15.4 years. During one additional year in an uncontrolled clinical study, penfluridol in the form of 20-mg capsuent procedures included BPRS, CGI, NOSIE, vital signs, and laboratory measurements. During this long-term treatment with penfluridol, the scores of a cluster of BPRS items that included emotional withdrawal, conceptual disorganization, motor retardation, uncooperativeness, and blunted affect showed a progressively significant improvement. This indicated that the Bleulerian primary symptoms in chronic schizophrenics can be improved by the long-term administration of this long-acting neuropleptic with concomitant betterment of social adaptation and activity. The percentage of failure was very low (four patients) and was marked by instability of psychopathology with periods of excitation. The incidence of extrapyramidal reactions necessitating the administration of an antiparkinsonian drug during the length of trial was 35 per cent. No serious effects nor significant laboratory test changes were observed.