Supervised Disulfiram in Relapse Prevention in Alcohol-Dependent Patients Suffering From Comorbid Borderline Personality Disorder-A Case Series

Methods: Case history study of patients diagnosed with BPD, prescribed disulfiram in a dose of 1.5-2.5 g/week, supervised by a physician in up to three brief contacts per week. Results: Two out of eight patients remained completely abstinent during the supervised disulfiram therapy over a mean period of 9.25 months. Adherence to treatment was 18.44 +/- 21.78 months. The first relapse occurred after 1.38 +/- 1.41 months. The cumulated time of abstinence was 16.88 +/- 20.48 months. The overall tolerability was considered to be high; dizziness and fatigue appeared in all patients at the beginning of the therapy but did not persist. No serious adverse events or ethanol-disulfiram interactions were observed. No suicidal behaviour was reported. Conclusions: Although case observations should be interpreted with caution, supervised disulfiram seems to deserve further investigation in patients with comorbid BPD, for whom it appears to help prevent alcoholic relapse.