Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:1203-1208
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Amoxapine versus amitriptyline combined with perphenazine in the treatment of psychotic depression
RF Anton Jr and EA Burch Jr
Medical University of South Carolina, Institute of Psychiatry, Charleston 29425.
In a double-blind study lasting for 4 weeks, the authors compared the
effectiveness of amoxapine, an antidepressant with potential antipsychotic
properties, with a combination of amitriptyline plus perphenazine in the
treatment of 38 patients who had the diagnosis of major depression with
psychotic features (psychotic or delusional depression). Patients in each
group showed similar improvement in depression and psychosis. There was a
tendency for the patients treated with amitriptyline plus perphenazine to
have higher global response rates. However, the patients given amoxapine
had significantly fewer extrapyramidal side effects.
