Reemergence of positive symptoms after initial response to risperidone.

Risperidone was effective in successfully treating a patient's negative symptoms of schizophrenia as well as reducing adverse effects from typical antipsychotic drugs. Auditory hallucinations reemerged after 8 months, however, and again after 24 months of risperidone therapy. Reemergence of psychotic symptoms after initial response might be explained by inadequate dosage, by the natural course of the patient's schizophrenia independent of drug therapy, or by the possibility that, for this patient, risperidone was less effective than chlorpromazine for the positive symptom of auditory hallucinations.