Quetiapine in nine youths with autistic disorder
RL Findling, NK McNamara, BL Gracious… - Journal of Child and …, 2004 - liebertpub.com
RL Findling, NK McNamara, BL Gracious, MA O'Riordan, MD Reed, C Demeter, JL Blumer
Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 2004•liebertpub.comObjective: The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of quetiapine in
adolescents suffering from autistic disorder (AD). Methods: This was a 12-week, open-label
study, for which medically healthy patients with AD between the ages of 10 and 17 years
were eligible. Quetiapine treatment was gradually increased over the first 6 weeks of the
study, to a total daily dose of 300 mg/day. Doses could then be increased to a maximum
daily dose of 750 mg/day. Outcome measures included the Children's Psychiatric Rating …
adolescents suffering from autistic disorder (AD). Methods: This was a 12-week, open-label
study, for which medically healthy patients with AD between the ages of 10 and 17 years
were eligible. Quetiapine treatment was gradually increased over the first 6 weeks of the
study, to a total daily dose of 300 mg/day. Doses could then be increased to a maximum
daily dose of 750 mg/day. Outcome measures included the Children's Psychiatric Rating …
Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the effectiveness of quetiapine in adolescents suffering from autistic disorder (AD).
Methods: This was a 12-week, open-label study, for which medically healthy patients with AD between the ages of 10 and 17 years were eligible. Quetiapine treatment was gradually increased over the first 6 weeks of the study, to a total daily dose of 300 mg/day. Doses could then be increased to a maximum daily dose of 750 mg/day. Outcome measures included the Children's Psychiatric Rating Scale (CPRS) and the Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scale.
Results: Nine (9) males were enrolled. Six (6) patients had previously been treated with other psychotropic agents. Although improvements in several symptom domains were observed on quetiapine, only 2 patients met a priori criteria for response ("much" or "very much improved" on the Clinical Global Impressions—Improvement Scale). In addition, only these same 2 patients' parents/guardians chose to continue quetiapine pharmacotherapy after study participation.
Conclusions: These data suggest that quetiapine may not be a particularly effective agent in the treatment of adolescent patients with AD. However, should future studies be performed, it seems reasonable that they be conducted with more rigor, less treatment-resistant cohorts, and, possibly, a different dosing strategy.
Mary Ann Liebert