Novel antipsychotics in the long-term treatment of schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia still has a poorer outcome than other affective disorders. One possible way to improve the long-term outcome of schizophrenic patients is to optimise long-term treatment with the aim of minimising the number of relapses and reducing residual symptoms. Atypical antipsychotics have various advantages over atypical neuroleptics. The first depot formulation of an atypical neuroleptic appears to be a further positive step to improve the possibilities of an optimal long-term treatment for schizophrenia.