A “Newly Discovered in Romania” atypical antipsychotic prolonged release treatment for patient with schizophrenia. First results of a naturalistic study with recently approved paliperidone palmitate

Abstract

Introduction

Intramuscular paliperidone palmitate is a long-acting atypical antipsychotic, which has only been marketed in Romania from march 2015 as a free of charge medication/subsidized for the acute and maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adults.

Objectives and aims

To determine the efficacy and tolerability of paliperidone palmitate in 12 patients with schizophrenia in an outpatient care unit, taking into account the limited clinical experience with this product in Romania.

Methods

The study was performed in an outpatient care unit. Data was collected from medical records of patients started on paliperidone palmitate between March and June 2015. This time period was selected because we wanted to have at least a 6-month period of evaluating these patients. Some of the patients were previously on risperidone long-acting injection (in Romania the advantages of a 1-month injection instead of 2 and the fact that the medication does not need to be held in a refrigerator are 2 important factors that can increase the compliance of the patients). Others were treated with other long-acting antipsychotics (flupentixol). The rest were patients treated before with risperidone, with good response, but with problems of non-compliance.

Results

None of the patients treated with paliperidone palmitate relapsed. Some of them had, at maximum dose, minor extrapyramidal symptoms that disappeared when we lowered the dose. Taking into account the lack of insight and the non-compliance of patients with schizophrenia, this treatment seems to be extremely valuable, maybe more in this kind of cases, in outpatient care units.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.