Worldwide use of clomipramine.

Clomipramine, a preferential inhibitor of 5-hydroxytryptamine uptake, has proven effective in the management of depression, resistant depression, and obsessive compulsive disorder. Investigators have also reported benefits of this medication in patients with phobia, panic disorder, chronic pain, Gilles de la Tourette's syndrome, premature ejaculation, anorexia nervosa, cataplexy, and enuresis. In double-blind studies of patients with depression, clomipramine has been significantly more effective than placebo and equivalent to standard tricyclics. Clomipramine is particularly well suited for the treatment of resistant depression, for which its efficacy may be enhanced by combination therapy with tryptophan and/or lithium. In at least 12 double-blind comparative trials, clomipramine has exhibited significant benefit in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, this efficacy not being limited to patients with an associated depressive illness. In the United States, clomipramine is approved only for the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder.