Lurasitor 40/Lurasitor 80 Special Precautions

Increased Mortality in Elderly Patients with Dementia-Related Psychosis: Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death. Observational studies suggest that, similar to atypical antipsychotic drugs, treatment with conventional antipsychotic drugs may increase mortality. The extent to which the findings of increased mortality in observational studies may be attributed to the antipsychotic drug as opposed to some characteristic(s) of the patients is not clear. Lurasidone hydrochloride is not approved for the treatment of patients with dementia-related psychosis.
Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Pediatric and Young Adult Patients: In reported pooled analyses of placebo-controlled trials of antidepressant drugs (SSRIs and other antidepressant classes) that included approximately 77,000 adult patients, and over 4,400 pediatric patients, the incidence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in pediatric and young adult patients was greater in antidepressant-treated patients than in placebo-treated patients.
No suicides occurred in any of the pediatric studies. There were suicides in the adult studies, but the number was not sufficient to reach any conclusion about antidepressant drug effect on suicide.
Lurasidone hydrochloride is not approved for use in pediatric patients with depression.It is unknown whether the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in young adult patients extends to longer-term use, i.e., beyond four months. However, there is substantial evidence from reported placebo- controlled maintenance studies in adults with MDD that antidepressants delay the recurrence of depression.
Monitor all antidepressant-treated patients for clinical worsening and emergence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, especially during the initial few months of drug therapy and at times of dosage changes. Counsel family members or caregivers of patients to monitor for changes in behavior and to alert the healthcare provider. Consider changing the therapeutic regimen, including possibly discontinuing lurasidone hydrochloride, in patients whose depression is persistently worse, or who are experiencing emergent suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
Cerebrovascular Adverse Reactions, Including Stroke in Elderly Patients with Dementia-Related Psychosis: Lurasidone hydrochloride is not approved for the treatment of patients with dementia-related psychosis.
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome: A potentially fatal symptom complex sometimes referred to as Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) has been reported in association with administration of antipsychotic drugs, including lurasidone hydrochloride.
Clinical manifestations of NMS are hyperpyrexia, muscle rigidity, altered mental status, and evidence of autonomic instability (irregular pulse or blood pressure, tachycardia, diaphoresis, and cardiac dysrhythmia). Additional signs may include elevated creatine phosphokinase, myoglobinuria (rhabdomyolysis), and acute renal failure.
The diagnostic evaluation of patients with this syndrome is complicated. It is important to exclude cases where the clinical presentation includes both serious medical illness (e.g., pneumonia, systemic infection) and untreated or inadequately treated extrapyramidal signs and symptoms (EPS). Other important considerations in the differential diagnosis include central anticholinergic toxicity, heat stroke, drug fever, and primary central nervous system pathology.
The management of NMS should include: 1) immediate discontinuation of antipsychotic drugs and other drugs not essential to concurrent therapy; 2) intensive symptomatic treatment and medical monitoring; and 3) treatment of any concomitant serious medical problems for which specific treatments are available.
If a patient requires antipsychotic drug treatment after recovery from NMS, the potential reintroduction of drug therapy should be carefully considered. If reintroduced, the patient should be carefully monitored, since recurrences of NMS have been reported.
Tardive Dyskinesia: Tardive dyskinesia is a syndrome consisting of potentially irreversible, involuntary, dyskinetic movements that can develop in patients treated with antipsychotic drugs. Although the prevalence of the syndrome appears to be highest among the elderly, especially elderly women, it is impossible to rely upon prevalence estimates to predict, at the inception of antipsychotic treatment, which patients are likely to develop the syndrome. Whether antipsychotic drug products differ in their potential to cause tardive dyskinesia is unknown.
The risk of developing tardive dyskinesia and the likelihood that it will become irreversible are believed to increase as the duration of treatment and the total cumulative dose of antipsychotic drugs administered to the patient increase. However, the syndrome can develop, although much less commonly, after relatively brief treatment periods at low doses.
There is no known treatment for established cases of tardive dyskinesia, although the syndrome may remit, partially or completely, if antipsychotic treatment is withdrawn. Antipsychotic treatment, itself, however, may suppress (or partially suppress) the signs and symptoms of the syndrome and thereby may possibly mask the underlying process. The effect that symptomatic suppression has upon the long-term course of the syndrome is unknown.
Given these considerations, lurasidone hydrochloride should be prescribed in a manner that is most likely to minimize the occurrence of tardive dyskinesia. Chronic antipsychotic treatment should generally be reserved for patients who suffer from a chronic illness that (1) is known to respond to antipsychotic drugs, and (2) for whom alternative, equally effective, but potentially less harmful treatments are not available or appropriate. In patients who do require chronic treatment, the smallest dose and the shortest duration of treatment producing a satisfactory clinical response should be sought. The need for continued treatment should be reassessed periodically.
If signs and symptoms of tardive dyskinesia appear in a patient on lurasidone hydrochloride, drug discontinuation should be considered. However, some patients may require treatment with lurasidone hydrochloride despite the presence of the syndrome.
Metabolic Changes: Atypical antipsychotic drugs have been associated with metabolic changes that may increase cardiovascular/cerebrovascular risk. These metabolic changes include hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia, and body weight gain. While all of the drugs in the class have been shown to produce some metabolic changes, each drug has its own specific risk profile.
Hyperglycemia and Diabetes Mellitus: Hyperglycemia, in some cases extreme and associated with ketoacidosis or hyperosmolar coma or death, has been reported in patients treated with atypical antipsychotics. Assessment of the relationship between atypical antipsychotic use and glucose abnormalities is complicated by the possibility of an increased background risk of diabetes mellitus in patients with schizophrenia and the increasing incidence of diabetes mellitus in the general population. Given these confounders, the relationship between atypical antipsychotic use and hyperglycemia-related adverse events is not completely understood. However, reported epidemiological studies suggest an increased risk of treatment- emergent hyperglycemia-related adverse events in patients treated with the atypical antipsychotics. Because lurasidone hydrochloride was not marketed at the time these studies were performed, it is not known if lurasidone hydrochloride is associated with this increased risk.
Patients with an established diagnosis of diabetes mellitus who are started on atypical antipsychotics should be monitored regularly for worsening of glucose control. Patients with risk factors for diabetes mellitus (e.g., obesity, family history of diabetes) who are starting treatment with atypical antipsychotics should undergo fasting blood glucose testing at the beginning of treatment and periodically during treatment. Any patient treated with atypical antipsychotics should be monitored for symptoms of hyperglycemia including polydipsia, polyuria, polyphagia, and weakness. Patients who develop symptoms of hyperglycemia during treatment with atypical antipsychotics should undergo fasting blood glucose testing. In some cases, hyperglycemia has resolved when the atypical antipsychotic was discontinued; however, some patients required continuation of anti-diabetic treatment despite discontinuation of the suspect drug.
Dyslipidemia: Undesirable alterations in lipids have been reported in patients treated with atypical antipsychotics.
Weight Gain: Weight gain has been observed with atypical antipsychotic use. Clinical monitoring of weight is recommended.
Hyperprolactinemia: As with other drugs that antagonize dopamine D2 receptors, lurasidone hydrochloride elevates prolactin levels.
Hyperprolactinemia may suppress hypothalamic GnRH, resulting in reduced pituitary gonadotrophin secretion. This, in turn, may inhibit reproductive function by impairing gonadal steroidogenesis in both female and male patients. Galactorrhea, amenorrhea, gynecomastia, and impotence have been reported with prolactin-elevating compounds. Long standing hyperprolactinemia, when associated with hypogonadism, may lead to decreased bone density in both female and male patients.
Leukopenia, Neutropenia and Agranulocytosis: Leukopenia/neutropenia has been reported during treatment with antipsychotic agents. Agranulocytosis (including fatal cases) has been reported with other agents in the class.
Possible risk factors for leukopenia/neutropenia include pre-existing low white blood cell count (WBC) and history of drug-induced leukopenia/neutropenia. Patients with a pre-existing low WBC or a history of drug-induced leukopenia/neutropenia should have their complete blood count (CBC) monitored frequently during the first few months of therapy and lurasidone hydrochloride should be discontinued at the first sign of decline in WBC, in the absence of other causative factors.
Patients with neutropenia should be carefully monitored for fever or other symptoms or signs of infection and treated promptly if such symptoms or signs occur. Patients with severe neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count <1000/mm³) should discontinue lurasidone hydrochloride and have their WBC followed until recovery.
Orthostatic Hypotension and Syncope: Lurasidone hydrochloride may cause orthostatic hypotension and syncope, perhaps due to its α1-adrenergic receptor antagonism. Associated adverse reactions can include dizziness, lightheadedness, tachycardia, and bradycardia. Generally, these risks are greatest at the beginning of treatment and during dose escalation. Patients at increased risk of these adverse reactions or at increased risk of developing complications from hypotension include those with dehydration, hypovolemia, treatment with antihypertensive medication, history of cardiovascular disease (e.g., heart failure, myocardial infarction, ischemia, or conduction abnormalities), history of cerebrovascular disease, as well as patients who are antipsychotic-naïve. In such patients, consider using a lower starting dose and slower titration, and monitor orthostatic vital signs.
Orthostatic hypotension, as assessed by vital sign measurement, was defined by the following vital sign changes: ≥20 mmHg decrease in systolic blood pressure and ≥10 bpm increase in pulse from sitting to standing or supine to standing position.
Seizures: As with other antipsychotic drugs, lurasidone hydrochloride should be used cautiously in patients with a history of seizures or with conditions that lower the seizure threshold, e.g., Alzheimer's dementia. Conditions that lower the seizure threshold may be more prevalent in patients 65 years or older.
Potential for Cognitive and Motor Impairment: Lurasidone hydrochloride, like other antipsychotics, has the potential to impair judgment, thinking or motor skills. Caution patients about operating hazardous machinery, including motor vehicles, until they are reasonably certain that therapy with lurasidone hydrochloride does not affect them adversely.
In reported clinical studies with lurasidone hydrochloride, somnolence includes: hypersomnia, hypersomnolence, sedation and somnolence.
Body Temperature Dysregulation: Disruption of the body's ability to reduce core body temperature has been attributed to antipsychotic agents. Appropriate care is advised when prescribing lurasidone hydrochloride for patients who will be experiencing conditions that may contribute to an elevation in core body temperature, e.g., exercising strenuously, exposure to extreme heat, receiving concomitant medication with anticholinergic activity, or being subject to dehydration.
Activation of Mania/Hypomania: Antidepressant treatment can increase the risk of developing a manic or hypomanic episode, particularly in patients with bipolar disorder. Monitor patients for the emergence of such episodes.
In the bipolar depression monotherapy and adjunctive therapy (with lithium or valproate) studies, less than 1% of subjects in the lurasidone hydrochloride and placebo groups developed manic or hypomanic episodes.
Dysphagia: Esophageal dysmotility and aspiration have been associated with antipsychotic drug use. Aspiration pneumonia is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in elderly patients, in particular those with advanced Alzheimer's dementia. Lurasidone hydrochloride and other antipsychotic drugs should be used cautiously in patients at risk for aspiration pneumonia.
Neurological Adverse Reactions in Patients with Parkinson's Disease or Dementia with Lewy Bodies: Patients with Parkinson's Disease or Dementia with Lewy Bodies are reported to have an increased sensitivity to antipsychotic medication. Manifestations of this increased sensitivity include confusion, obtundation, postural instability with frequent falls, extrapyramidal symptoms, and clinical features consistent with the neuroleptic malignant syndrome.