Changes in Hyperprolactinemia Secondary to Antipsychotics After Switching to Quetiapine

Hyperprolactinaemia is a common side effect of some antipsychotics (APS), including some atypicals. Clinical consequences of hyperprolactinaemia include most remarkably the appearance of amenorrhea, galactorrhea, tender breasts, and gynecomastia - associated with dysmorphophobia and psychological disorders in some cases, particularly in men-. Another common side effect is sexual dysfunction, with decreased libido, anorgasmia, and in men, impotence, reduced volume ejaculated and even backward ejaculation. Less known but also present is the increased cardiovascular risk, specially in women, disorders of osteoporotic type. Furthermore, several authors have related hyperprolactinemic states with the development of breast cancer including a potential worse prognosis of it (Mandala, 1999; Clevenger 2003; Mujagic, 2004), and with the development of metastatic prostate cancer and resistance to hormone therapy in men (Lisonni, 2005) Despite this growing evidence and the fact that APS with no apparent increase of prolactin levels exist, such as quetiapine or aripiprazole, many clinicians don't even monitor prolactin levels in patients following APS treatment. And when they do, they find there are no consistent published data in order to adopt evidence-based decisions that may be beneficial for the patient. This naturalistic observational 6 months follow-up study on patients with APS-induced hyperprolactinemia aims to obtain more information about the switching approach in cases of hyperprolactinemia secondary to APS and to better establish the role of switching to quetiapine in this problem.