A crossover study of lecithin treatment of tardive dyskinesia

The authors enrolled 21 patients in a random-order, crossover, double-blind trial of phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) 20 g/day and placebo. Fourteen patients completed at least 6 weeks of the second 8-week trial and were used for efficacy analyses. Side effects were minimal. The lecithin treatment effect--about one half of an Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale point--was seen as a statistical effect of treatment order, based on differences between patients who took the active compound before or after they took the placebo. Clinically, however, the lecithin effect was negligible.