Quetiapine for treatment of depressive psychosis Authors: Sajatovic M, et al. Title: Efficacy of quetiapine and risperidone against depressive symptoms in outpatients with psychosis. Reference: J Clin Psychiatry 2002;63:1156-63. Purpose: To compare the efficacy and tolerability of quetiapine and risperidone for the treatment of depressive symptoms in outpatients with psychosis. Study design: Randomized, open-label, multicenter trial. Follow up: 4 months. Patients: 729 patients, 103 of whom had bipolar disorder (554 quetiapine: 83 with bipolar disorder; 175 risperidone: 20 with bipolar disorder). Treatment: Quetiapine titrated to a maximum of 800 mg/day (mean dose 318 mg) and risperidone titrated to a target of 6 mg/day (mean dose 4.4 mg). Results: Both drugs improved depression scores, but quetiapine produced a significantly greater improvement compared with risperidone in all patients. The incidence of EPS was significantly lower in mood-diagnosed patients receiving quetiapine than those receiving risperdone.
