Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe atypical dyskinesias (AtypDs) occurring during treatment with antipsychotic drugs (APDs). AtypDs are dyskinesias showing either an unusual temporal relationship between onset of treatment and start of the adverse drug reaction (ADR) or an unusual presentation of clinical symptoms.
Methods: Data on the utilisation of APDs and reports of severe APD-induced AtypDs were collected using data from the observational pharmacovigilance programme - 'Arzneimittelsicherheit in der Psychiatrie (English: drug safety in psychiatry)' (AMSP) - from 1993 to 2016.
Results: A total of 495,615 patients were monitored, of which 333,175 were treated with APDs. Sixty-seven cases (0.020%) of severe AtypDs under treatment with APDs were registered. The diagnoses of schizophrenic disorders as well as organic mental disorders were related to significantly higher rates of AtypDs. Second-generation antipsychotic drugs (SGAs) showed slightly higher rates of AtypDs (0.024%) than high-potency (0.011%) or low-potency first-generation antipsychotic drugs (FGAs; 0.006%). In 41 cases (61.2%), two or more drugs were found to cause AtypDs.
Conclusions: Our study indicates that AtypDs are rare ADRs. SGAs may have a higher risk for the occurrence of AtypDs than FGAs. Clinicians should be aware of this ADR and patients should be monitored and examined carefully.
Keywords: AMSP programme; adverse drug reactions; antipsychotic drugs; extrapyramidal symptoms; severe drug-induced atypical dyskinesias.