Cloziapine for tardive dyskinesia in adolescents

Thousands of adolescents use neuroleptic drugs over extended periods of time for a wide range of mental disorders. One of the most severe adverse effects of neuroleptic drugs is tardive dyskinesia (TD), for which no successful treatment is currently available. Clozapine is a known atypical neuroleptic drug with few eztrapyramidal side effects. It has been suggested that clozapine may be beneficial for the treatment of tardive dyskinesia in adolescents. However, the efficacy of the drug in adolescents is unknown. This report describes the beneficial effect of clozapine on tardive dyskinesia in two adolescents with schizophrenia.