Long-term efficacy and safety of quetiapine in treatment-refractory schizophrenia: A case report

The recent advent of atypical antipsychotics has provided new clinical options and set higher expectations for the treatment of schizophrenia. Such agents might more effectively prevent relapse because they are more effective against the full spectrum of schizophrenic symptoms, as well as having improved tolerability and leading to improved medication compliance. Quetiapine fumarate ('Seroquel') is a new dibenzothiazepine antipsychotic agent with a greater affinity for serotonin receptors than for dopamine receptors and with a lower propensity for producing extrapyramidal symptoms or increasing prolactin levels. It has recently been approved for the treatment of psychotic disorders; however, the long-term efficacy and safety of quetiapine for treating treatment-refractory schizophrenia is still being investigated. We present a case of a 58-year-old man suffering from chronic therapy-resistant schizophrenia, with both positive and negative symptoms, who was successfully treated with quetiapine for 5 years. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of such long beneficial use of quetiapine in a hospital clinical practice.