Iloperidone

Iloperidone is indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults.

When deciding among the alternative treatments available for this condition, the prescriber should consider the finding that iloperidone is associated with prolongation of the QTc interval. Prolongation of the QTc interval is associated in some other drugs with the ability to cause torsade de pointestype arrhythmia, a potentially fatal polymorphic ventricular tachycardia which can result in sudden death. In many cases this would lead to the conclusion that other drugs should be tried first. Whether iloperidone will cause torsade de pointes or increase the rate of sudden death is not yet known.

Patients must be titrated to an effective dose of iloperidone. Thus, control of symptoms may be delayed during the first 1 to 2 weeks of treatment compared to some other antipsychotic drugs that do not require a similar titration. Prescribers should be mindful of this delay when selecting an antipsychotic drug for the treatment of schizophrenia