title: A Promising Preliminary Study of Aripiprazole for Treatment-Resistant Childhood Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a relatively frequent disease in childhood, which is generally treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and/or clomipramine and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). However, nearly half of the cases are treatment resistant. Aripiprazole was shown to be beneficial in augmentation therapy in treatment-refractory OCD. This study evaluated its effectiveness as a single agent in these cases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen children (nine girls, seven boys), who were nonresponders to treatment with at least two types of SSRIs and CBT, were administered 12 weeks of aripiprazole treatment with a mean dose of 4.75 mg/day (range: 2-7.5 mg/day). Treatment outcomes were evaluated by the Childhood Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS), and the Clinical Global Impressions-Severity and Improvement (CGI-S and CGI-I) scales.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children with a mean age of 10.9±2.9 years had severe obsessive compulsive symptoms at baseline, and >80% of them had another comorbid psychiatric disease. Significant improvements in symptoms were achieved after 12 weeks of aripiprazole treatment, which were evaluated by significant decreases in symptom scores in the CY-BOCS, and improvements in CGI-I scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This very small study of aripiprazole, given to children with OCD resistant to at least 12 weeks treatment with at least two SSRIs and CBT, demonstrated striking improvement in CGI scores (all subsets, p≤0.002) for 13 of 16 children, and halved all CY-BOCS subscores after ∼12 weeks of treatment.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ege University School of Medicine , Izmir, Turkey .
authors.forename: Eyup Sabri
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Ercan
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Ege University School of Medicine , Izmir, Turkey .
authors.forename: Ulku Akyol
authors.initials: UA
authors.lastname: Ardic
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychological Counseling and Guidance, Ege University Faculty of Education , Izmir, Turkey .
authors.forename: Elif
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ercan
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Epidemiology, Hacettepe University , Ankara, Turkey .
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Yuce
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Child and Adolcscent Psychiatry, Behcet Uz State Hospital, Izmir, Turkey .
authors.forename: Sibel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Durak
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000068180:Aripiprazole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000628:therapy; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D000068180:Aripiprazole; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors