title: Donepezil 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 serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) shows significant improvement; however, residual symptoms remain in most patients despite continued adequate OCD treatment. For patients exhibiting partial or no response to multiple SSRIs, augmentation strategies are usually recommended. Here, we introduce a retrospective consecutive sample of aged patients with resistant OCD treated with donepezil augmentation to regular pharmacotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten patients (5 males, 5 females; mean [SD] age, 63.8 [7.5] years), suffering from resistant OCD, were openly treated with donepezil 10 mg/d as add-on. Efficacy was assessed at baseline and after 8 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 adverse events. In all patients, mean (SD) Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale scores diminished from 27.3 (4.3) points at baseline to 16.9 (4.5) points at week 8 (P < 0.0001). Mean (SD) Clinical Global Impression-Severity scores diminished from 5.5 (0.7) points to 3.1 (1.0) points, (P < 0.001). According to Clinical Global Impression-Improvement, 7 patients demonstrated "very much" or "much" improvement and 3 patients did not demonstrate any improvement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Donepezil was a well-tolerated add-on to regular pharmacotherapy in treatment-resistant OCD patients in this small cases series. Donepezil could be a promising optional therapy for patients suffering from resistant OCD, but further randomized controlled studies are necessary.
authors.affiliation: *Mental Health Center Tirat Carmel, Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Technion, Haifa; †Be'er-Sheva Mental Health Center, Faculty of Health Sciences Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er-Sheva; ‡Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Tsfat; and §Hemdat HaDarom, Academic College of Education, Netivot, Israel.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bergman
authors.forename: Chanoch
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Miodownik
authors.forename: Paul P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Lerner
authors.forename: Einat
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Miodownik
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shulkin
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lerner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000077265:Donepezil; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007189:Indans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018697:Nootropic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D007189:Indans; D018697:Nootropic Agents; D010880:Piperidines; D000077265:Donepezil