The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology

Table of Contents - 2006 - Volume 9, Issue 06  


Letter to the Editor

Aripiprazole is effective in the treatment of Tourette's disorder

Eric Louis Constant a1c1, Laurence Borras a2 and Arlette Seghers a3
a1 Department of Psychiatry, Université Catholique de Louvain, UCL, 1200 Bruxelles, Belgium
a2 Department of Psychiatry, Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève, Switzerland
a3 Department of Psychiatry, Université Catholique de Louvain, UCL, 1200 Bruxelles, Belgium

Article author query
constant el   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
borras l   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 
seghers a   [PubMed][Google Scholar] 

Tourette's disorder is a chronic neuropsychiatric disorder including multiple involuntary motor and vocal tics. We report the clinical case of a 23-yr-old girl with Tourette's disorder and a successful treatment of this condition with aripiprazole, a new antipsychotic drug with dopamine-2 (D2) receptor antagonism under hyperdopaminergic conditions and with D2 receptor agonism under hypodopaminergic conditions. After 3 wk treatment with 15 mg/d aripiprazole, both motor and vocal tics had almost completely disappeared. The treatment was well tolerated by the patient. The only reported side-effect was insomnia during the first 3 wk of treatment. This encouraging case report should justify long-term placebo-controlled trials to further establish the treatment of tics with aripiprazole in this life-long disorder with severe functional consequences.

(Received March 30 2006)
(Reviewed April 11 2006)
(Revised April 11 2006)
(Accepted April 22 2006)
(Published Online May 31 2006)


Correspondence:
c1 Service de psychiatrie adulte, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Avenue Hippocrate 10, 1200 Bruxelles – Belgium. Tel.: 00-32-2-764-21-75 Fax: 00-32-2-764-89-21 E-mail: Eric.Constant@pscl.ucl.ac.be

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