Extrapyramidal symptoms and their relationship to clinical efficacy under perphenazine treatment. A controlled prospective handwriting-test study in 22 acutely ill schizophrenic patients

In order to verify the hypothesis of a strict relationship between clinical improvement and extrapyramidal side-effects, especially micrographia, twenty-two acutely ill schizophrenics were treated with perphenazine in a controlled prospective 28-day trial. During the study period, psychopathometric data, prolactin plasma levels, and handwriting samples were collected. According to the remission criteria fixed before the study began (both BPRS less than or equal to 25 and GAS greater than or equal to 80 points), 45.5% (10/22) of the total patient sample were classified as treatment responders. Handwriting tests were quantified in 21 patients. "Positive" handwriting results, i.e., a reduction of at least 13% in the overall area of 50% or more of the handwriting samples collected during the trial, were demonstrable in three of nine responders (33%) and nine of twelve nonresponders (75%). These results show that there is no positive correlation between clinical response and reduction in handwriting area. Consequently, the handwriting test is unable to predict clinical response. It is only one of a number of parameters with which to monitor the neurological side-effects of neuroleptic treatment. Outcome parameters show that psychopathological remission can be achieved with low neuroleptic dosages and few or virtually no extrapyramidal side-effects.