Clinical and neurobiological findings in children suffering from tic disease following treatment with tiapride.

Tiapride, a substituted benzamide derivative, possesses good clinical antidyskinetic properties due to its DA2-blocking activities. It has been shown to be clinically effective in the treatment of tic disease in children. In order to study tiapride's antidyskinetic properties in the treatment of the tic syndrome in children, we conducted a simple, placebo-controlled study on 10 children followed by a double-blind crossover study on 17 children. Tiapride was shown to have a positive therapeutic effect on tics in children; whereas it has no adverse effects on neuropsychologically measurable cognitive performances in children. Neurophysiological parameters such as the EEG frequency analysis and sensory evoked potentials were not affected by tiapride, nor was the neurosecretory, hypothalamic-hypophyseal regulation of the sex hormones, thyroid stimulating hormone, growth hormone, or thyroid hormone impaired. The hyperprolactinemia caused by tiapride's dopaminergic properties was moderate and restricted to the duration of therapy.