ALPHA PSYCHIATRY
Original Articles

Treatment options of delusional parasitosis: case series of 14 patients

1.

Gazi Üniversitesi, Ankara

Alpha Psychiatry 2012; 13: 239-242
Read: 204 Downloads: 93 Published: 29 December 2020

Objective: Delusional parasitosis (DP) is a rare psychiatric disorder in which patients develop the delusional belief that they are in-fested by parasites. Second generation antipsychotics and antidepressants can be used for its treatment. Traditionally the first gener-ation antipsychotic pimozide has been used. The aim of this article is to investigate the efficacy of second generation antipsychotics compared to pimozide in a case series of patients with DP and to evaluate the validity of DP across cultures. Methods: We have evaluated fourteen patients with primary or secondary DP regarding their demographic and clinical variables as well as their re-sponses to treatment including chlorpromazine equivalent doses. We saw fourteen patients for a six [month] follow up period. Re-sults: Complete remission was achieved in all patients on pimozide therapy. The remission rates for those on olanzapine were 71%, for those on risperidone were 50%. The lowest doses in chlorpromazine equivalent doses to achieve full remission were used with olanzapine, followed by risperidone and pimozide. DP was found to be a valid diagnosis in the Turkish context. Discussion: Clinical and demographic data suggests that DP is a stable diagnostic category across different cultures. Good remission rates can be achieved with first and second generation antipsychotics when compliance can be established.

 

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EISSN 2757-8038