title: Amisulpride as add-on treatment for resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder: retrospective case series.
abstract: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most common and disabling psychiatric disorders. Treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) shows significant improvement; however, residual symptoms remain in most patients despite continued treatment. For partial or nonresponding patients to multiple SSRIs, augmentation strategies are usually recommended. Here we present a consecutive sample of patients with resistant OCD treated with amisulpride augmentation to SSRIs.
  
  
  METHODS
  We present 10 patients (5 males, 5 females) experiencing resistant OCD. Subjects were treated openly for 6 weeks with amisulpride 200 mg/d as add-on, excluding 1 patient who was treated with only 100 mg/d due to acute extrapyramidal adverse effect on a larger dose. Efficacy was assessed at baseline and after 6 weeks of treatment using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale, Clinical Global Impression-Severity, and Clinical Global Impression-Improvement.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The treatment was generally well tolerated without serious events. In all patients, average Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale scores diminished from 25.3 ± 5.96 points at baseline to 12.2 ± 5.98 at the sixth week (P < 0.0005). Of 10 patients, 7 had significant and partial improvement, and 3 patients did not demonstrate any improvement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment-resistant OCD patients positively responded and well tolerated amisulpride add-on to their ongoing regular pharmacotherapy. This case series demonstrates that amisulpride could be a promising optional therapy for patients who have resistant OCD. Further randomized controlled studies are necessary.
authors.affiliation: *Be'er Sheva Mental Health Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva; †Mental Health Center Tirat Carmel, Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Technion, Haifa; and ‡Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Tsfat, Israel.
authors.forename: Chanoch
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miodownik
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bergman
authors.forename: Paul P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.forename: Anatoly
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kreinin
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lerner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000077582:Amisulpride; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013469:Sulpiride / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000077582:Amisulpride; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D013469:Sulpiride