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10 - Managing Seizure Risk and Stuttering

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2021

Jonathan M. Meyer  and
Stephen M. Stahl
Jonathan M. Meyer
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
Stephen M. Stahl
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
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Summary

While weight gain and other adverse effects can be challenging to treat, seizure management is extremely successful to the extent that recent reviews comment that it should never be a reason to discontinue clozapine treatment. Evidence suggests that psychiatric providers may have adopted this position, as case data on 316 new clozapine starts from 2007 to 2011 at the South London and Maudsley National Health Service Foundation Trust did not list seizures among reasons for clozapine cessation, although 20 other types of adverse drug reactions were cited. Seizures are not unique to clozapine, and antipsychotic package insert warnings in the United States consider this a class effect, although the mechanisms for this common property remain unknown. Recent reviews note rates ranging from 0.2% to 0.5% with other antipsychotics, and a 9% incidence with high-dose chlorpromazine (≥ 1000 mg/day)

Type
Chapter
Information
The Clozapine Handbook
Stahl's Handbooks
 , pp. 190 - 203
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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References

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