[Leukopenia associated with butyrophenones. A successful treatment of psychoses with pulsed administration of neuroleptics].

In the monotherapeutic treatment of an acute schizophrenic psychoses with butyrophenones (haloperidol and benperidol) we saw immediate leucopenic reactions when the medication was given every day. In literature the risk of butyrophenone-induced blood dyscrasias seems to be underestimated. Therefore we decided to report this single case evaluation. When benperidol (short elimination--half life period) was given every other day ("interval-therapy") the blood cell count of the leucocytes normalized. Furthermore, the amount of psychopathological abnormalities measured by the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale decreased under this intermittent treatment.