The authors report their experience in using
Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (C.A.P.D.), in the treatment of chronic
schizophrenia. This attempt refers to studies which confirm any role of
endorphins in the origin of
schizophrenia. Consecutively to american authors who found
endorphins (molecular weight 3 300) in the dialysat of hemodialysed schizophrenics, they choose C.A.P.D. This continue technic of dialysis is more efficient than
hemodialysis in removal of substances which molecular weight is between 1 500 and 5 000. This technic was used in 3 chronic schizophrenics: the disease has developed since 6 to 17 years and all the previous treatments failed. The duration of C.A.P.D. was 3 to 6 months. The only complication was one episode of
inflammation of the peritoneum during 14 months of dialysis. Followed by the same staff with the
AMDP 3 scale, the psychiatric evolution includes: --improvement and relapse in 2 patients (but we have to consider the difficulties of socioprofessional rehabilitation of these long term patients); --"clinical recovery" (17 months) in the third patient. The incidence of mothering and institutionalism is not negligible. Dosage of
Met-enkephalin and
beta-endorphin by radioimmunoassay in the drained dialysat did not show any difference between schizophrenics and the reference chronic renal patient. The results obtained with C.A.P.D. are not very satisfactory so far. But further research especially on the role of
endorphins in
schizophrenia and on their analysis technics in the body fluids perhaps will allow to treat
schizophrenia again by dialysis.