Objective: To evaluate the effects of aripiprazole on tics, behavior, cognition and mood in late chi

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Open-Label Trial of Aripiprazole In Tourette
Syndrome Children/Young Adults Drake D. Duane and
Glenn E. Heimburger Institute for Developmental
Behavioral Neurology / Arizona State
UniversityScottsdale / Tempe, Arizona, U.S.A.
Objective To evaluate the effects of
aripiprazole on tics, behavior, cognition and
mood in late childhood to young adulthood
Tourette syndrome (TS). Method 10 TS patients,
9 male, mean age 17-years (range 11-32) were
placed on aripiprazole 2.5 mg/d eventually up to
15 mg/d (mean 9.25 mg/d) with IRB approved
informed consent. Initially concomitant
medications were continued (7 on SSRI, 3 on other
atypical neuroleptics and 3 on psychostimulants).
Patients were monitored for 8-weeks at baseline,
week 4 and 8 personally, weekly by telephone.
Test comparisons baseline/week 8 Behavior-DSM-IV
Rating Scale (DSM-IV), Achenbach Child Behavior
Checklist (CBCL) Tics-Yale Tic Rating Scale
(TRS) Cognition-Test of Variables of Attention
(TOVA), 3-Letter Cancellation Test (LCT), Digit
Span (DS) Mood-Childrens Depression Index
(CDI), CBCL, Hamilton Depression Scale (Ham
D). Results Improved/Total Behavior-DSM-IV
6/10 attention, 4/10 hyperactivity, 6/10
impulsivity, CBCL 6/8 attention Tics-7/10 simple
motor, 6/10 complex motor, 5/10 simple phonic,
4/10 complex phonic. Improved/Abnormal Mood-CDI
3/5, CBCL obsessive 4/5, Ham D 0/1 Cognition-LCT
2/3, DS 3/3, TOVA 2/2. Adverse Effects
Hematology/Chemistry 0/10, 2 transient nausea, 3
gt 5 percentile weight increase, 1 gt 5 percentile
weight decrease. Conclusion Aripiprazole is a
safe effective treatment for TS tics, behavior
and cognition. Poster Presentation, 158th
Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric
Association, May 21-26, 2005, Atlanta, GA. Duane
DD, Heimburger GE. Open-label trial of
aripiprazole in Tourette syndrome children/young
adults. 2005 New Research Program and
Abstracts, in press.