Ardelle Komaryk1, Dean Elbe2, Leah Burgess3. 1. Family Nurse Practitioner; Healthy Minds Centre, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia. 2. Clinical Pharmacy Specialist, Child & Adolescent Mental Health; Healthy Minds Centre, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia; Department of Pharmacy, Children's and Women's Health Centre of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia; Associate Member, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia. 3. Registered Psychologist; Healthy Minds Centre, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Literature describing use of clozapine by children and adolescents is limited. The primary study objective was to assess the patterns of clozapine use in an inpatient child and adolescent population. METHODS: A retrospective review of child and adolescent inpatients receiving clozapine at a Canadian children's hospital from January 2000 through December 2014 was conducted. Interdisciplinary comprehensive data collection was conducted by experienced clinicians. Baseline population characteristics and psychiatric illness risk factors were captured. Illness symptoms and severity were assessed retrospectively using validated measures including the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) and Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scales. Estimated clozapine dosing requirements for each patient to achieve a serum level associated with response was calculated. Clozapine-related adverse events were captured. RESULTS: Twenty-eight inpatients (64% female) receiving clozapine during the study period were identified. Mean age at clozapine initiation was 15.8 years. Twenty-three patients (82%) were taking clozapine at discharge, and of these, 22 patients (96%) experienced at least minimal improvement in BPRS and CGAS scores. Patients took a mean of 33.1 days from clozapine start to reach their maximum clozapine dosage, a mean maximum of 57% of their estimated clozapine dose requirement. Mean length of stay following clozapine initiation was 60.7 days. We observed a high rate of benign hematological adverse events, but no episodes of severe neutropenia. The majority of patients were of ethnicity associated with high risk for metabolic adverse events. CONCLUSION: Most hospitalized, treatment-refractory children requiring clozapine clinically improve despite experiencing high, but largely manageable, adverse event rates.
OBJECTIVE: Literature describing use of clozapine by children and adolescents is limited. The primary study objective was to assess the patterns of clozapine use in an inpatient child and adolescent population. METHODS: A retrospective review of child and adolescent inpatients receiving clozapine at a Canadian children's hospital from January 2000 through December 2014 was conducted. Interdisciplinary comprehensive data collection was conducted by experienced clinicians. Baseline population characteristics and psychiatric illness risk factors were captured. Illness symptoms and severity were assessed retrospectively using validated measures including the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) and Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) scales. Estimated clozapine dosing requirements for each patient to achieve a serum level associated with response was calculated. Clozapine-related adverse events were captured. RESULTS: Twenty-eight inpatients (64% female) receiving clozapine during the study period were identified. Mean age at clozapine initiation was 15.8 years. Twenty-three patients (82%) were taking clozapine at discharge, and of these, 22 patients (96%) experienced at least minimal improvement in BPRS and CGAS scores. Patients took a mean of 33.1 days from clozapine start to reach their maximum clozapine dosage, a mean maximum of 57% of their estimated clozapine dose requirement. Mean length of stay following clozapine initiation was 60.7 days. We observed a high rate of benign hematological adverse events, but no episodes of severe neutropenia. The majority of patients were of ethnicity associated with high risk for metabolic adverse events. CONCLUSION: Most hospitalized, treatment-refractory children requiring clozapine clinically improve despite experiencing high, but largely manageable, adverse event rates.
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