Olanzapine: new indication. New indication in acute mania: just another neuroleptic

(1) Lithium is the first-line treatment for patients with acute mania. For patients with psychosis or intense agitation, an oral neuroleptic can be added (haloperidol or chlorpromazine, the best-assessed drugs of this class). (2) The licensed indications for oral olanzapine, a neuroleptic, explicitly mention the treatment of acute mania. (3) The clinical evaluation dossier on olanzapine in this setting (10 mg to 15 mg/day) is not particularly impressive. In particular, clinical trials included patients with a variety of associated psychotic symptoms. (4) The only comparative trial against another neuroleptic, haloperidol at a high starting dose (10 mg), showed that olanzapine was no more effective. The same applies to a trial comparing olanzapine with disodium valproate. (5) One placebo-controlled trial tested olanzapine as an additional treatment in patients who did not respond adequately to lithium or valproate disodium. Olanzapine potentiated the antimanic effects of the original treatment but also increased the incidence of adverse effects. (6) In patients with acute mania, the main adverse effects of olanzapine are drowsiness, weight gain, dizziness, and dry mouth. In the trial comparing olanzapine with haloperidol, olanzapine caused fewer extrapyramidal side effects but more weight gain than haloperidol. (7) Olanzapine costs 20 times more than haloperidol in France. (8) In practice, olanzapine is just another neuroleptic approved for the treatment of acute mania in patients with psychotic symptoms and agitation. There is no evidence that olanzapine has the best risk-benefit ratio in this category.