Letter to the Editor January 15, 2008

Hypokalemia Following Rapid Titration of Quetiapine Treatment

Yu-Chung Lin, MD; Hao-Zong Chen, MD; Ta-Jen Chang, MD; Hsien-Yuan Lane, PhD

J Clin Psychiatry 2008;69(1):165-166

Article Abstract

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Sir: Hypokalemia has been reported following regular treatmentwith typical antipsychotics in 13 Chinese patients1,2 and1 white individual3 and following treatment with clozapine,the prototype of atypical antipsychotics, in 1 Chinese patient.1Overdose toxicity was demonstrated in a case report on remarkablehypokalemia after combined use of 2 atypical antipsychotics:an exceedingly large dose, 100 mg, of risperidoneplus a therapeutic dose, 750 mg, of quetiapine.4 Hypokalemia,though infrequently identified, can be a serious adverse effectof antipsychotics.’ ‹