Use of Risperidone in Psychosis Associated With Huntington's Disease

Abstract

SIR: The atypical antipsychotic agents are being increasingly used to treat psychotic symptoms associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Safferman et al. 1 Safferman AZ Kane JM Aronowitz JS et al. The use of clozapine in neurological disorders. J Clin Psychiatry. 1994; 55: 98-101 PubMed Google Scholar have suggested that clozapine is preferable to typical neuroleptics for treating psychoses associated with Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases. Clozapine, however, does not appear to offer any advantage over haloperidol in the management of choreiform movements in Huntington's disease (HD). 2 Pfeiffer C Wagner ML Clozapine therapy for Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders. Am J Hosp Pharmacy. 1994; 51: 3047-3053 PubMed Google Scholar Meco et al. 3 Meco G Alessandri A Bonifati V et al. Risperidone for hallucinations in levodopa-treated Parkinson's disease patients. Lancet. 1994; 343: 1370-1371 Abstract PubMed Scopus (121) Google Scholar report that risperidone effectively reduced hallucinations in levodopa-treated patients with Parkinson's disease without worsening extrapyramidal symptoms. Rich et al., 4 Rich SS Friedman JH Ott BR Risperidone vs. clozapine in the treatment of psychosis in six patients with Parkinson's disease and other akinetic-rigid syndromes. J Clin Psychiatry. 1995; 56: 556-559 PubMed Google Scholar however, reported that five of six patients with Parkinson's disease and other akinetic rigid syndromes and psychosis experienced intolerable exacerbation of parkinsonism with risperidone. Few studies of the use of risperidone in HD have been published. 5 Meco G Bonifati V Alessandri A et al. Risperidone in Huntington's disease (letter). Human Psychopharmacol. 1995; 10: 353-354 Crossref Scopus (10) Google Scholar , 6 Reveley MA Dursum SM Andrews HA Comparative trial use of sulpiride and risperidone in Huntington's disease: a pilot study. J Psychopharmacol. 1996; 10: 162-165 Crossref PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar , 7 Parsa MA Szigethy E Voci JM et al. Risperidone in treatment of choreoathetosis of Huntington's disease. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 1997; 17: 134-135 Crossref PubMed Scopus (33) Google Scholar We report the use of risperidone for treating psychotic symptoms in a patient with HD whose diagnosis was confirmed by DNA analysis.