Clinical review of risperidone.

Phase II clinical trials with risperidone have proven it to have a potent antipsychotic effect, improving both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. It was found to have a low potential for inducing extrapyramidal symptoms and has been shown to have a possible antidyskinetic effect without increasing parkinsonism. Risperidone has a rapid onset of action and a favourable side-effect profile. One-year data on risperidone suggest that its therapeutic action in patients with chronic schizophrenia can be maintained without the significant neurological side-effects associated with the use of standard neuroleptics.