A clinical assessment of zuclopenthixol dihydrochloride (Clopixol tablets) in the treatment of psychotic illness.

An open, multi-centre study was carried out in 69 patients with an acute psychotic episode to assess the efficacy and side-effects of treatment with oral zuclopenthixol dihydrochloride. Patients were treated until the acute episode was considered terminated by the clinician and, although dosage could be adjusted to allow optimum clinical response, the majority received 25 mg zuclopenthixol dihydrochloride 3-times daily throughout the trial period. Assessments were made before and during treatment using the BPRS and CGI rating scales and a check-list of side-effects. The results showed that 55 (80%) patients had a successful response to treatment. Almost half (33) of the patients responded fully to the drug within 3 weeks and by the end of 5-weeks' treatment this had increased to over 70% (49). A further 6 patients responded after 6 to 9 weeks of treatment. The drug was generally well tolerated and the majority of patients had either no side-effects or side-effects which did not overtly affect performance.