The Cardiac Complications Of Clozapine Study

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Almost one third of patients with schizophrenia do not respond to commonly used antipsychotic medicines. For up to 60% of these patients, the novel antipsychotic medicine clozapine can be very effective and has been shown to reduce the high rate of suicide in these patients. While generally temporary and not life-threatening, a few side effects can be fatal. In particular, inflammation and reduced contraction (dysfunction) of the heart muscle have been documented with clozapine use (up to 8.5% of patients). The cause of the heart problems following clozapine use is not known, and there is a need to identify patients at greater risk of developing these side effects during treatment. The current study will observe about 40 adult patients each year with schizophrenia starting clozapine therapy through the Eastern Health Adult Mental Health Program. As is standard care for this group of patients, assessments of heart function will be performed prior to, and at regular intervals from 1 to 6 months, and each 6 months thereafter, for the duration of treatment. We hypothesise that this study will identify early subtle changes in heart function that precede overt dysfunction in patients taking clozapine. Such patients displaying early signs during can then be identified and managed appropriately.

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