[Treatment of tics in Tourette syndrome with atypical antipsychotic drugs]

Abstract

We reviewed articles in English dealing with research into the effect of atypical antipsychotic drugs on tic reduction in Tourette's syndrome. In Denmark, there are four registered atypical antipsychotic drugs; clozapine, sulpiride, olanzapine, and risperidone. The topic of interest is the effectiveness and side effects of these drugs as compared to the conventional antipsychotic, pimozide, which is today the preferred pharmacological treatment of Tourette's syndrome among the antipsychotics. The conclusion is that risperidone would be a good first-line antipsychotic drug for the treatment of Tourette's syndrome. It is as effective as pimozide, its side effect profile is overall much more favourable, and unlike pimozide it does not contain the risk of causing heart arrhythmia.