Pharmacologic Treatment of Patients Hospitalized With the Diagnosis of Schizoaffective Disorder

Letter to the Editor

Sir: We read with great interest the article by McElroy et al. in which they provide an overview of the treatment of schizoaffective disorder. Their review of existing studies of traditional and novel pharmacologic agents resulted in a conclusion that the safety, side effect profile, and apparent thymoleptic properties of atypical antipsychotics suggested use of these agents as first-line treatment of patients with schizoaffective disorder. We are in the process of analyzing data on the treatment of 70 patients hospitalized with schizoaffective disorder during a 6-year period from 1993 to 1999. Preliminary data from our study support the notion that psychiatrists are turning increasingly to atypical agents in the treatment of schizoaffective disorder. Our data also indicate potential utility for these agents, since patients with schizoaffective disorder appear to receive thymoleptic agents whether or not they present with prominent mood symptoms.