Controlled Study of Pimozide vs. Placebo in Tourette's Syndrome

Abstract

This double-blind, crossover, prospective study compared the efficacy and safety of pimozide to placebo in 20 patients with Tourette's syndrome (TS). The study included a 2–week drug-free period, random assignment to pimozide or placebo for 6 weeks and crossover to the alternate medication for a second 6–week period. Multiple dependent measures of efficacy at endpoint by the clinician, patient and judges were all highly significant (most p values = 0.0001). Adverse reactions, commonly encountered with antipsychotic drugs, were related to dosage and generally could be managed by careful titration of dosage and use of antiparkinson drugs, except for an abnormal ECG in one patient. This study confirms previous reports in the literature that pimozide is an effective drug for the treatment of TS. Future controlled studies should be conducted to evaluate whether pimozide is more effective and has less adverse effects than haloperidol and other drugs.