Ahmed Naguy1, Saxby Pridmore1, Anubhuti Singh1, Bibi Alamiri1. 1. Naguy, MBBCh, MSc, Child/Adolescent Psychiatrist, Al-Manara CAP Centre, Kuwait Centre for Mental Health (KCMH), Jamal Abdul-Nassir St, Shuwaikh, State of Kuwait. Pridmore, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia. Singh, MBBch, MD, Mrcpsych (UK), Speciality Doctor, Learning Disabilities, Exeter, Devon NHS partnership Trust, UK, and Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, Saraswati medical college, Lucknow, India. Alamiri, MD, ABPN, ScD, Consultant Child/Adolescent Psychiatrist, Head of Al-Manara CAP Centre, KCMH, Kuwait, and, Assistant Professor, Tufts University, Medford, United States.
Abstract
Objectives: Young patients with intellectual disability (ID) have both diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. These include, inter alia, diagnostic overshadowing, diagnostic slippage and heightened vulnerability to adverse drug reactions. These would portent a generally poor prognostication. Methods: This is a case-study of an adolescent with intellectual disability long-hospitalized for co-morbid treatment-resistant bipolar mood disorder that failed to respond to ECT. Patient partially responded to LAI risperidone with repeated ADRs. Top-up with low-dose clozapine (100 mg/d) was pursued. Results: Low-dose clozapine top-up complemented therapeutic response (mood lability and paranoia) and strikingly safeguarded effectively against risperidone-related extrapyramidal side effects. Conclusions: Add-on clozapine remains a viable option, albeit off-label, in young patients with ID and treatment-resistant affective/schizophreniform psychoses. Clozapine has an edge over other agents in the setting of dyskinesias.
Objectives: Young patients with intellectual disability (ID) have both diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. These include, inter alia, diagnostic overshadowing, diagnostic slippage and heightened vulnerability to adverse drug reactions. These would portent a generally poor prognostication. Methods: This is a case-study of an adolescent with intellectual disability long-hospitalized for co-morbid treatment-resistant bipolar mood disorder that failed to respond to ECT. Patient partially responded to LAI risperidone with repeated ADRs. Top-up with low-dose clozapine (100 mg/d) was pursued. Results: Low-dose clozapine top-up complemented therapeutic response (mood lability and paranoia) and strikingly safeguarded effectively against risperidone-related extrapyramidal side effects. Conclusions: Add-on clozapine remains a viable option, albeit off-label, in young patients with ID and treatment-resistant affective/schizophreniform psychoses. Clozapine has an edge over other agents in the setting of dyskinesias.