Cyamemazine is an original phenothiazine derivative which showed similar efficacy and tolerability to lorazepam during ethanol withdrawal in mice. This study investigated cyamemazine for its efficacy and tolerability in alcohol-dependent patients electing an alcohol withdrawal procedure, in comparison with diazepam.A multicenter, randomized, double-blind study in 89 alcohol-dependent patients (CIWA-Ar score between 10 and 30), electing an alcohol withdrawal procedure, was used to find effective doses of cyamemazine and to compare it with diazepam for efficacy and tolerability. On day 1 (D(1)), cyamemazine or diazepam (50 mg and 10 mg capsule, respectively) were administered at hourly intervals to reduce CIWA-Ar = 5, up to a maximum of eight administrations. Starting from D(2), the compounds were given twice a day in progressively decreasing doses during a maximum period of 13 days (D(end)).At h(8) (8 h after the first treatment of D(1)), therapeutic success (CIWA-Ar score