Penfluridol in the Maintenance Treatment of Schizophrenic Patients Newly Discharged from A Brief Therapy Unit GUY CHOUINARD. M.D.. M.Sc. (Pharmacol.), F.R.C.P. (C). LAWRENCE ANNABLE. B.Sc.. Dip. Sfat. and THOMAS N. L. KOUVAKIS. M.B. Montreal, Quebec, Canada 162 The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology P ENFLURIDOL, a diphenylbutylpiperidine derivative, is the first long-acting neuroleptic to be introduced that can be administered orally once a week. Two other diphenylbutylpiperidines, pimozide and fiuspirilene, have been found to have an antipsychotic effect.’ If penfiuridol proves to be an efficacious medication in the treatment of schizophrenia, it is en- visaged that special weekly clinics might be set up where patients who cannot be relied upon to take antipsychotie medica- tion and those with frequent schizophrenic From the Pharmacology Research Unit, Allan Memorial Institute, McGill University, Montreal, and Institut National de Ia Recherche Scien- tifique-Sante, H#{244}pital Louis-H. Lafontaine, Mon- treal, Quebec, Canada. Presented at the 129th Annual Meeting of time American Psychiatric As- sociation, held in Miami, Florida, May 10-14, 1976. Da. CII0UINARD is Assistant Professor, Depart- ment of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, and Professor, Institut National de In Recherche Scientifique-Sant#{233}, Hdpital Louis-H. Lafontaine, Montreal. L. ANNABLE is Biostatistician, Institut National do ha Recherche Scientifique-Sante, H#{244}pital Louis-H. Lafontaine, Montreal, Quebec, and Consultant in Biostatistics, Allan Memorial In- stitute Pharmacology Research Unit, McGill Uni- versity, Montreal. THOMAS N. L. KoLrvAmcIs is Associate Psy- chiatrist, Allan Men1orial Institute, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. relapses could come to receive their medi- cation. The present paper concerns a double- l)hmld, controlled study comparing pen- fiuridol with chlorpromazine in the treat- memit of newly admitted schizophrenic pa- tients, consisting of three weeks of in- patient treatment in a brief therapy unit and ten weeks of follow-up. The results of the inpatient phase, which have been reported previously,2 showed penfiuridol to be as efficacious as chiorpromazine in the treatment of these patients, except for subjects presenting very acute symptoma- tology, for whom chlorpromazine ap- pcared to be more effective. We report here the ten-week follow-up of these sub- jects, comparing penfiuridol with chlor- promazinc in the maintenance treatment of newly discharged schizophrenic pa- tients. Material and Method Study Design. A total of 33 newly ad- mitted schizophrenic patients who satis- fied study criteria similar to those used in the National Institute of Mental health-Psychopharmacology Service Cen- ter (NIMH-PSC) Collaborative Study3 were selected from the Allan Memorial Institute Brief Therapy Unit for inclu-