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Published on: February 4, 2014
[Clozapine use and abrupt smoking cessation; a potentially life-threatening combination]
A Ruissen1, A M van Schaik, J H Beijnen
1GGZ inGeest, Amsterdam. a.ruissen@ggzingeest.nl
Abstract:
A 58-year-old man was in a period of 3 weeks twice admitted to a general hospital with symptoms of clozapine intoxication, i.e. loss of consciousness. We are of the opinion that the patient developed clozapine intoxication because he had been prescribed clozapine (300 mg/day) and at the same time had suddenly stopped smoking. The link is confirmed in the literature. We therefore recommend that clozapine-dosage be adjusted to a patient's smoking behaviour.
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