New antipsychotic medications - What advantages do they offer?

New, so-called atypical antipsychotic medications will no doubt supplant the traditional, or ''typical,'' antipsychotic medications, just as the new generation of anti-depressant agents has replaced the older tricyclic drugs. At issue with most of the new drugs is not acute efficacy, but long-term tolerability. Side effects must be minimized to enhance compliance and prevent relapse. It appears that many of the new antipsychotic drugs have fewer or less troublesome side effects than the older agents. In addition, the ''atypical'' antipsychotic agents hold promise for treating refractory schizophrenia. At present, only clozapine, with its risks for agranulocytosis and seizures, is clearly established as a treatment for refractory illness. Risperidone may be an alternative for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, but this has not yet been clearly proved. Olanzapine has recently been introduced. Sertindole should be available soon, and quetiapine and ziprasidone should quickly follow. Safety, efficacy and cost will guide their use. None of these newer agents have been compared head-to-head with clozapine. More research is needed to place these new drugs into clinical perspective.