Abstract. Schizophrenia in childhood and adolescence is a relatively rare psychiatric disorder with chronic course which profoundly impairs all aspects of the patient’s daily functioning and causes severe negative consequences in social, domestic, emotional, cultural, and educational domains. Timely medical intervention can significantly improve the quality of life of both patients and their families. In the 21st century, despite rapid advances in the medical and pharmacological fields, the etiology and pathogenesis of schizophrenia are still not fully elucidated, and a small subset of patients remain completely treatment-resistant. We present a clinical case of a 14-year-old female patient with early onset schizophrenia. She underwent sequential treatment (initial monotherapy followed by augmentation) with several different antipsychotic agents in maximum therapeutic doses, including clozapine. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was subsequently applied; however, no clinical response was observed. This resulted in severe impairment of the patient’s functioning including discontinuation of education and she remains fully dependent on the daily supervision and care provided by her relatives.

Key words: treatment-resistant schizophrenia, early onset, clozapine, electroconvulsive therapy

Full text here.