ANTIPSYCHOTIC drugs have revolutionized the treatment of psychotic and mood disorders since their introduction 50 years ago. Although psychiatric patients have significantly benefited from the use of typical antipsychotic drugs, their limitations have become apparent and include extrapyramidal symptoms and tardive dyskinesia. The next generation of antipsychotic drugs (novel or atypical) offers advantages compared with the typical antipsychotic drugs: they are uniformly better tolerated and are more efficacious in certain symptom domains. However, current data do not suggest that these new medications offer advantages regarding cardiovascular adverse effects.1