[Clozapine in the treatment of under-age schizophrenia]

In as many as one third of those afflicted with schizophrenia, the symptoms have emerged before adulthood. Early-onset schizophrenia is often a long-term illness with an unfavorable prognosis. Clozapine is more effective than other antipsychotic drugs in adults, but its use is limited by potential adverse effects, of which agranulocytosis is the most serious one. According to the treatment practice for adults, clozapine emerges inevitably as a drug option for difficult-to-manage schizophrenia in an under-aged person. The few studies conducted on the subject speak for the use of clozapine also in the under-aged.