Will the new antipsychotics bring hope of reducing the risk of developing extrapyramidal syndromes and tardive dyskinesia?

Treatment of psychotic symptoms with traditional neuroleptics has been complicated by acute extrapyramidal syndromes (EPS) and late occurring tardive dyskinesia. These widely prevalent disorders have both motor and mental components which impose additional impairments on patients who are already substantially limited by their psychoses. Research activities with new drugs involve multiple neurotransmitters and different receptor subtypes. These new approaches have produced an increasingly desirable group of antipsychotic agents with a low EPS profile. The initial advances in low EPS with clozapine and risperidone are being followed up with further gains using agents such as sertindole, olanzapine and seroquel. The advent of these new agents seems likely to fulfill the promise that it is possible to have antipsychotic agents with a low EPS liability, and possibly a low risk of tardive dyskinesia.