Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) as a substitutive treatment for schizophrenia in antipsychoticinduced hepatitis: a case study / Estimulação transcraniana por corrente contí­nua (ETCC) como tratamento substitutivo em paciente esquizofrênico com hepatite induzida por antipsicótico: um estudo de caso

Resumo

Dear editor,

Schizophrenia is a common psychiatric disorder with an overall prevalence of 1-1.5% in general population and a chronic course throughout life(1) . These patients have generally limited capacity to perform daily activities as well as lower quality of life and greater incidence of comorbidities such as depressive symptoms, substance-related disorders, suicidal behavior and increased cardiovascular risk(2) . About 25% of patients with schizophrenia do not respond to conventional drug treatment(3) and, for responders, adverse effects are common and often lead to treatment discontinuation. These issues often jeopardize optimal treatment and consequently, lead to clinical deterioration. Moreover, drug-induced hepatitis has been anedoctically reported in literature with both typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs - for instance, risperidone is known to potentially cause drug-induced hepatitis in 0.01%-0.1% of patients(4). The present case study reports tDCS as an interesting treatment strategy for patients with major clinical limitations to medication use.