[Therapy control of perphenazine in paranoid conditions. 1. Organizational aspects]

A prospective investigation was carried out in the Department of Psychiatry, Odense University Hospital, on therapy control by serum monitoring of the neuroleptic, perphenazine for a period of one year. Newly admitted patients requiring treatment for paranoid symptoms, excluding mania, were offered medication with perphenazine (fixed dosage, oral or parenteral (depot)) which would be serum-monitored. A global record was made of the therapeutic effect and the side-effects by the physicians in the department. In the investigation period, 605 admissions were registered in the department, of them 363 were prospectively registered in the investigation. In all 199 were found to satisfy the inclusion criteria. Either one or two blood tests were carried out on each of 141 patients in the treatment period, i.e. six weeks. The gap in registration is consistent with the result from other investigations. Participation in the investigation varied from ward to ward (33%-87%). The reason for the variation is mainly due to different treatment procedures and traditions. The main conclusion drawn from the investigation is that it is possible to set up a stable treatment/serum-monitored system. In the majority of cases, the team of physicians in the department succeeded in finding the dosage most appropriate on the basis of the serum concentration level. Laboratory recommendations were followed in 93% of the cases.