Abstract
This article presents clinical features, course, prevalence, complications and risk factors for tardive dyskinesia (TD). It contains review of last theories and findings concerning pathophysiology of tardive dyskinesia. Research on TD in schizophrenic patients are focused on searching of associations between extrapyramidal syndromes and prior existing soft neurological sings, some of neurophysiological parameters and cognitive impairment. Research on pathophysiology of TD suggests toxic influence of long-term neuroleptic treatment on human brain (free radical hypothesis, impair iron metabolism in CNS). Tardive dyskinesia due to its persisting and potentially irreversible course diminishes patients’ quality of life, compliance and has an influence on psychosocial functioning. A variety of treatment strategies have been tried with limited success. The lack of consistently reliable therapy of TD shifts a stress to the prophylactic efforts. The introduction into psychopharmacology a new group of atypical antypsychotic agents has raised hopes that problem of TD will disappear, but for now data on atypical neuroleptics are scant.