TY - JOUR
T1 - A case series of clozapine for borderline personality disorder
AU - Frogley, Catherine
AU - Anagnostakis, Katina
AU - Mitchell, Shawn
AU - Mason, Fiona
AU - Taylor, David
AU - Dickens, Geoff
AU - Picchioni, Marco M.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - BACKGROUND: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a common, debilitating disorder for which the evidence base for treatment is modest. This case series aimed to explore preliminary evidence of clozapine's effectiveness for patients with severe BPD. METHODS: We examined the case notes of 22 female inpatients with a primary diagnosis of BPD who had started treatment with clozapine. Baseline routine clinical data were extracted from the records and at 6 monthly intervals thereafter, up to a maximum of 18 months after starting treatment. Patients also were interviewed about their experiences. RESULTS: We found evidence for a beneficial effect of clozapine across several clinical domains. Symptom severity, need for enhanced observations, use of additional medication, and the number of aggressive incidents all significantly improved after clozapine. The greatest improvements appeared within the first 6 months of initiating treatment. There also was a significant increase in weight. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that clozapine, with suitable health monitoring, may be beneficial for this clinical population. Larger, randomized, blinded, and controlled prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.
AB - BACKGROUND: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a common, debilitating disorder for which the evidence base for treatment is modest. This case series aimed to explore preliminary evidence of clozapine's effectiveness for patients with severe BPD. METHODS: We examined the case notes of 22 female inpatients with a primary diagnosis of BPD who had started treatment with clozapine. Baseline routine clinical data were extracted from the records and at 6 monthly intervals thereafter, up to a maximum of 18 months after starting treatment. Patients also were interviewed about their experiences. RESULTS: We found evidence for a beneficial effect of clozapine across several clinical domains. Symptom severity, need for enhanced observations, use of additional medication, and the number of aggressive incidents all significantly improved after clozapine. The greatest improvements appeared within the first 6 months of initiating treatment. There also was a significant increase in weight. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that clozapine, with suitable health monitoring, may be beneficial for this clinical population. Larger, randomized, blinded, and controlled prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.
KW - antipsychotic drugs
KW - borderline personality disorder
KW - chemotherapy
KW - clozapine
UR - http://handle.westernsydney.edu.au:8081/1959.7/uws:46902
M3 - Article
SN - 1040-1237
VL - 25
SP - 125
EP - 134
JO - Annals of Clinical Psychiatry
JF - Annals of Clinical Psychiatry
IS - 2
ER -