Tetrabenazine in the treatment of hyperkinetic movement disorders.

Tetrabenazine, a dopamine-depleting agent first synthesized half a century ago, was initially developed for the treatment of schizophrenia. Although psychotic disorders have since been treated more successfully with other neuroleptic medications, many studies have shown this drug to be effective in the treatment of hyperkinetic movement disorders (hyperkinesias). Hyperkinesias are neurologic disorders characterized by abnormal involuntary movements such as chorea associated with Huntington's disease, tics in Tourette's syndrome and stereotypies in tardive dyskinesia. Recently, clinical trials investigating tetrabenazine for the treatment of chorea associated with Huntington's disease found the drug to be safe and efficacious, making approval by the US Food and Drug Administration for this indication a distinct possibility.