Ms. A, a 40-year-old woman diagnosed with a residual schizophrenia [] was admitted following an exacerbation of psychotic symptoms with a predominance of anxiety despite 700 mg/d of clozapine for two years. The clinical scores and the trough plasma concentrations of clozapine and norclozapine at admission were CGI : 5; total PANSS: 123; positive: 17/49; negative: 18/49; excited component: 12/35; general: 39/112; Hamilton-anxiety: 14/56; clozapine: 896 ng/mL; norclozapine: 551 ng/mL, respectively (clozapine therapeutic range: 350–600 ng/mL [–]). Because of the risks of seizures, the dose was reduced to 500 mg/d, and aripiprazole (10 mg/d) was added. Clozapine and norclozapine plasma concentrations measured after 10 days were decreased according to the reduction of the dose (615 ng/mL and 478 ng/mL, resp.). The aripiprazole plasma concentration after 10 days was 282 ng/mL. Following a clinical reduction of the anxiety, the patient was discharged from the hospital three weeks after the addition of aripiprazole.\nA followup over 6 months did not reveal any change in the CGI and PANSS scores (at 6 months: CGI : 5; total PANSS: 125; positive: 18/49; negative: 23/49; excited component 10/35; general: 38/112). On the other hand, the Hamilton-anxiety score diminished progressively to 12, 7, and 8 after one, three, and 6 months, respectively. Clozapine and norclozapine plasma levels were stable over this period (at the sixth month: 608 ng/mL, 443 ng/mL, and 75 kg, resp.), and the comedications (clorazepate 20 mg/d, valsartane 40 mg/d, zopiclone 7,5 mg/d, and tamsulosine 0.4 mg/d) were not modified. No reports are describing an impact on anxiety by the antihypertensive comedication by valsartane (an angiotensin II receptor antagonist) and tamsulosine (peripheral α1-antagonist). There is no significant pharmacokinetic or pharmacodynamic interactions of that comedication and the antipsychotic/anxiolytic treatments.
A 34-year-old, Caucasian, male patient with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia for 14 years was admitted for psychiatric examination with complaints of repeating some words and washing hands frequently. He was on clozapine 100 mg/day treatment for 2 years. He was hospitalized due to exacerbation of psychotic and OCS.\nA 10-mg/day dose of aripiprazole was added on to his ongoing 100-mg/day clozapine treatment. At the end of the first week, clozapine dose increased to 150 mg/day and aripiprazole dose to 30 mg/day gradually. The plasma clozapine and norclozapine levels were over therapeutic level as 746.1 and 519.1 ng/mL at the end of the third week, so clozapine dose decreased to 100 mg/day. The clozapine andaripiprazole doses, plasma drug levels, and the clinical rating scale scores are given at Table \n. During discharge, his scores of PANSS was 50 (141 at admission), BPRS was 20 (74 at admission), and YBOCS was 20 (40 at admission).