Treatment of childhood-onset schizophrenia with olanzapine

This paper reports on a clinical observation of 15 hospitalized youths ages 6-13 years diagnosed with childhood-onset schizophrenia and acutely treated with olanzapine. Initial sedation was the most common side effect observed. Youngsters who had not had a previous trial on any psychotropic did better than those that had failed a previous medication trial. Age was inversely correlated with positive response to olanzapine. Patients who experienced initial sedation did best once the initial sedation wore off. The majority of patients in the study improved on olanzapine.