The effect of hemodialysis on tardive dyskinesia
Abstract
PARVIZ MALEK-AHMADI, DAVID DAVIS, M.D. M.D.LEONARDO.DAVIS, Ph.D.MICHAEL I. SORKIN, M.D.In recent years tardive dyskinesia has emerged as one of the most serious complications of antipsychotic phar macotherapy. Two recent reviews have summarized the clinical and theoretical aspects of this disorder.t,2 Theexact cause of tardive dyskinesia remains obscure but Throughout the years she had received large doses of antipsychotic medications, often well over the equivalent of1 .000 mg of chiorpromazine per day. At the time of thisadmission she was seen independently by three psychia trists, who diagnosed schizophrenia using Feighner's rea number of possibilities have been suggested, includ She manifested abnormal movements of the jaws, mouth, ing dopaminergic hypersensitivity,3 alterations in the and tongue, characterized by extreme grinding of the teeth, dopaminergic/cholinergic neurotransmitter balance,4 masticatory movements, and intermittent protrusion of the cholinergic hypofunction,5 and altered function of ââ¬Ë¿y tongue. Her oral movements were so severe that rectalaminobutyric acid.6 These proposed mechanisms havesearch criteria.8led to a large number of therapeutic trials; however, to date no drug has been found generally effective in treating tardive dyskinesia. This report describes sig nificant improvement in tardive dyskinesia occurring in a patient involved in a double-blind study ofthe effects of hemodialysis on schizophrenia.7Cas report