Clozapine is the most effective antipsychotic for treatment resistant schizophrenia but adverse reactions to clozapine include neutropenia. Patients with COVID-19 infection frequently experience lymphopenia, but not neutropenia.The impact of clozapine treatment in the presence of COVID-19 is unknown

Show 2 cases of neutropenia in patients treated with long-term clozapine during COVID-19 infection.

Subjects: 48 admitted patients to a long-stay psychiatric unit. COVID-19 infection confirmed by positive nasopharyngeal swab for viral ribonucleic acid of SARS-CoV-2. Hematological controls between March and April 2020.

16 patients (33%) treated with clozapine.18 patients (37’5%) had COVID-19 infection, of which 5 (10’4%) were treated with clozapine; 2 presented neutropenia. 1- 56-year-old woman diagnosed with schizophrenia on clozapine since 2009. Begins to have a dry cough and fever with positive COVID-19 swab (day 0). Slight leukopenia without neutropenia was observed on day 1. On day 7, neutropenia was observed with an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of 1100. We decided to suspend clozapine and to initiate daily hematological controls. The ANC on day 8 was 970. Over the next few days the ANC will progressively improve until neutropenia resolved (day 22). 2- 55-year-old woman who required a transfer to a general hospital because of respiratory complications from COVID-19. She presented significant leukopenia (1’01x 10^3/uL) and neutropenia (ANC 100). Clozapine was not withdrawn. She was treated with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.

An urgent full blood count will be required to exclude neutropenia with appropriate action. Further research will be needed to clarify the possible relationship between COVID-19, clozapine and neutropenia.

No significant relationships.

The Cognitive Disorders Unit carries out sessions of Psychoeducational Groups (PG) for caregivers of patients diagnosed with cognitive impairment (CI). The aim is to educate about the disease, improve the caregiver’s self-care and learn how to take better care of the sick.

Analyze the profile of the caregivers that participate in PG and assess changes in their psychological state.

Subjects: 110 caregivers of patients diagnosed with mild-moderate CI who have participated in PG. Methodology: sociodemographic data of the caregiver and patient are collected. The following scales are passed: General-Health-Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Global-Deterioration-Scale, Barthel-Index. 5 sessions of 90 minutes are carried out every fortnight. An opinion questionnaire and the GHQ-12 are administered at the end of the sessions.

86% of caregivers are women: 37% spouses and 55% daughters; mean age 57; 92% of patients live with the caregiver. 62% of caregivers present some kind of psychological disorder that is significantly reduced (p=0,0003) after some sessions. After PG: 65% of caregivers are able to further enjoy their daily activities 46% improve concentration capacity 42% improve sleeping and mood. Opinion Questionnaire Results: 98% of caregivers are satisfied with the activities, the topics addressed and their applicability.

The participants in PG were mostly daughters of patients, with average age 57, and living in the same household. Participation in PG improves the information and skills of caregivers, and reduces psychological disorders by improving their mood, their ability to concentrate, their quality of sleep and enjoyment of daily activities.

Clozapine is the most effective antipsychotic for treatment resistant schizophrenia. In patients treated with clozapine, COVID-19 infection may result in complications including an increased risk of pneumonia, clozapine toxicity, and disruption to clozapine treatment by COVID-19 induced lymphopenia.

We report 5 cases of elevated clozapine levels occurring in patients with COVID-19 infection who had been previously managed for several years on stable doses.

Subjects: 48 admitted patients to a long-stay psychiatric unit. COVID-19 infection confirmed by positive nasopharyngeal swab for viral ribonucleic acid of SARS-CoV-2. Hematological controls between March and April 2020.

16 patients (33%) treated with clozapine.18 patients (37’5%) had COVID-19 infection, of which 5 (10’4%) were treated with clozapine. Results are presented in table 1. Increases in plasma clozapine levels were observed in all cases (49’38 to 307.5%). We don’t have the clozapine levels of a patient who presented a pneumonia requiring admission and treatment in the general hospital. Two cases of neutropenia were observed, of which one had to discontinue treatment with clozapine. In the other three patients the dose of clozapine was reduced and they did not present haematological or intoxication complications that required further adjustments.

Covid-19 infection is associated with increased serum clozapine levels by probably multifactorial mechanisms (systemic infection, reduced smoking). Importance of full clinical assessment of suspected COVID-19 infection in clozapine treated patients, including assessment clozapine level, and full blood count. The general recommendation is to reduce the dose of clozapine in this patients.

Horticultural therapy is a professional practice that is increasingly used in a lot of mental health rehabilitation programs. This therapy was introduced in the Comunitary Rehabilitation Service of INAD, considering its beneficial results in patients with severe mental disorder in combination with the usual rehabilitation program.

We would like to study the benefits of this therapy compared to the usual in our patients.

This is an explanatory study for the purpose of establishing the association between the application of a Therapeutic Horticulture Program and the Clinical Symptomatology of Schizophrenia. A research with an experimental design Pre and Post-Test was carried out, by applying a Horticulture Program and evaluating with PANSS after 6 months its effects on the Clinical Symptomatology. The participants of the experimental group were selectively chosen. The only selection criteria were to attend the orchard at least once a week and be diagnosed with a schizophrenic disorder. The control group was chosen according to the number of members that made up the other group, with the criterion that they did not perform any outdoor activities and also had a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

The comparison of the Pre and Post-Test measures in the case of the experimental group reports the presence of statistically significant differences in the scale of positive symptomatology composite scale and general scale.

This psychopathological improvement of those participants open a door to possible applications of this therapy as a psychosocial treatment.

Schizophrenia is a developmental disorder that includes non-psychiatric abnormalities [2]. Metabolic abnormalities prior to antipsychotic treatment exist. The clozapine metabolic profile causes clozapine underuse in resistant schizophrenia [1].

To correlate metabolic profile with psychiatric severity and compare the correlations between clozapine/non-clozapine patients.

To determine possible contributory factors to metabolic abnormalities in schizophrenia.

We cross-sectionally analyzed all patients from a Spanish long-term mental care facility (n = 139). Schizophrenic/schizoaffective patients were selected (n = 118). N = 31 used clozapine. We paired clozapine and non-clozapine patients by sex and age and assessed metabolic and psychopathologic variables.

We compared psychopathologic variables between patients with/without cardiometabolic treatment and the differences between clozapine/non-clozapine groups.

We analyzed: 27 clozapine/29 non-clozapine patients. A total of 67,9% males with a mean age of 51.3 (SD 9.6) years. In the whole sample TG negatively correlated with Negative-CGI (r: −0,470, P: 0.049) and HDL-cholesterol correlates with Global-CGI(r: 0,505, P: 0.046). Prolactin correlated with the number of antipsychotics (r: 0.581, P: 0.023) and IMC (r: 0.575, P: 0.025). Clozapine group took less antipsychotics [Fisher (P: 0.045)] and had higher scores in total BRPS scale [t-Student (P: 0.036)]. They did not use more cardiometabolic treatment. There were no psychopathological differences between cardiometabolic treated/non-treated patients. In the non-cardiometabolic treated group (n = 35/62,5%), IMC negatively correlated with positive and total BPRS, positive, cognitive and global-CGI. We found negative correlations between metabolic parameters and psychopathology in clozapine (40%) and non-clozapine subgroups (60%). In the cardiometabolic treated group (n = 21/37,5%), we did not find these correlations in either of clozapine (61.9%) or non-clozapine (38.1%) subgroups.

Severity [2], prolactine [3] and treatment [1] could play a role in metabolic parameters. In our sample we found negative correlations between psychopathological and metabolic parameters.

References not available.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

For resistant schizophrenia, the only approved treatment is clozapine. However, clozapine is underused, mainly due to its wide range of side-effects. Secondary effects differ amongst antipsychotics (Leucht et al., 2009). Despite that there is no good evidence that combined antipsychotics offer any advantage over the use of a single antipsychotic, combination increases the frequency of adverse events (Maudsley guidelines).

To compare the side-effect profile between clozapine and non-clozapinepatients.

To provide evidence that clozapine patients do not show a worse side-effects profile.

We cross-sectionally analysed all patients from a Spanish long-term mental care facility (n = 139). Schizophrenic/schizoaffective patients were selected (n = 118) and their treatment was assessed, 31 patients used clozapine. We paired clozapine and non-clozapine patients by sex and age and assessed antipsychotic side effects and possible confounder variables.

Our sample was 27 clozapine patients and 29 non-clozapine patients. 67,9% were male with a mean age of 51.3 (SD 9.6) years. For continuous variables: age, BMI, waist/hip, cholesterol, TG, glucose, prolactin, heart-rate, blood pressure, sleeping hours, the only statistical differences found were lower heart-rate (P = 0.001) in clozapine group and higher salivation subscale of SAS (P = 0.002) in clozapine group. For discrete variables: monotherapy, obesity, overweight, metabolic syndrome or possible confounders as propranolol, laxative, diet, antiglycemiant or insulin, fibrates or statins, antihypertensive or anticholinergic, no statistical differences were found.

We did not find differences in cardiometabolic parameters, which are the main barrier to prescribing clozapine, probably due to the concomitant use of other drugs in both groups.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.