Search

Huntington's disease is characterised by a triad of motor symptoms (choreic movements), psychiatric symptoms and cognitive decline. Much less is known about the psychiatric symptoms such as psychosis and anxiety than about the motor symptoms. We discuss the case of a patient with Huntington's disease and psychosis and comment on the possible types of medication that should be used.

Background: Alcohol hallucinosis is a rare complication of chronic alcohol abuse characterized by the acute onset of hallucinations during or after an episode of alcohol use. The hallucinations may persist for a long time, due to which the clinical picture can be mistaken for a disorder on the schizophrenia spectrum. The prognosis tends to be favourable, although untreated cases are associated with a considerable mortality risk (37% in eight years)., Case Description: A 38-year-old male was admitted to a psychiatric hospital with hallucinations of acute onset during alcohol abuse which persisted for two months of abstinence. The patient experienced visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations during which time his consciousness, attention, orientation and higher cognitive functions remained intact. Somatic and neuroimaging investigations showed no abnormalities. The patient partially recovered on treatment with haloperidol., Conclusion: If hallucinations are experienced during or after a period of alcohol abuse, the diagnosis of alcohol hallucinosis should be considered. The diagnosis must be distinguished from delirium tremens and schizophrenia spectrum disorder as treatment and prognosis are essentially different.

Challenging behaviour in patients with intellectual disability may be caused by physical, psychological and environmental factors. In 3 case histories, a multidisciplinary assessment in diagnosis and treatment is shown to be needed. A 48-year-old man with mild intellectual disability presented with cognitive deterioration, aggressive behaviour and physical symptoms. The diagnosis was mood disorder and dissociative symptoms. His functioning improved during and after treatment with psychotropic drugs and non-verbal psychotherapy. A 10-year-old girl with moderate intellectual disability who presented with temper tantrums was diagnosed as having no psychiatric disorder, but symptoms caused by environmental factors. After proper support and education for the parents, the patient's challenging behaviour disappeared. A 61-year-old woman with Down syndrome and Alzheimer's dementia presented with screaming, restlessness, struggling during daily care, and confusion. She was prescribed haloperidol and oxazepam and the screaming behaviour decreased. However, she kept on struggling while being cared for and was restless while sitting in her wheelchair. After a proper medical examination it appeared that the problem behaviour was caused by collapsed vertebrae and osteoporosis.

Background: In The Netherlands, no guidelines exist for rapid tranquillisation in the context of acute agitation, excitement or aggression secondary to a psychiatric disorder., Aim: To generate an overview of medication regimes suitable for rapid tranquillisation., Method: A literature search was conducted focussing on the effect of medical interventions in acute excitement, agitation or aggression. Primary outcome measurements were tranquillity, being calm, sedation, or asleep within two hours. Secondary outcome measures were frequency of re-administration and adverse side effects., Results: Haloperidol appears as effective as lorazepam; haloperidol in combination with lorazepam does not have added value to lorazepam or haloperidol alone. Dehydrobenzperidol, risperidone, olanzapine and aripiprazole are comparable in effectiveness to lorazepam or haloperidol. Haloperidol in combination with promethazine is associated with a more rapid onset of effect than lorazepam, haloperidol or olanzapine. Midazolam is faster than the combination of haloperidol and promethazine, but requires more frequent re-administration of medication and increases the risk for respiratory depression. The literature on quetiapine was insufficient. The level of evidence, however, is modest., Conclusion: Haloperidol in combination with promethazine, and olanzapine, are effective in psychotic agitation, although haloperidol plus promethazine has a more rapid onset of effect faster; lorazepam is effective in non-psychotic agitation, aggression or excitement as well as in acute agitation of unknown origin.

A 30-year-old woman, 33 weeks pregnant, without a significant psychiatric history, was admitted for treatment of premature labour. She was treated with betamethasone intramuscularly, with a total dose of 24 mg divided over 2 days, and nifedipine orally with beneficial effect on the contractions. However, within 24 h after completion of tocolytic treatment, she developed a psychosis with delusions and hallucinations necessitating readmission, first to an obstetric ward, later to a psychiatric ward. At least part of this episode may be characterized as delirium. Eventually, she was treated with haloperidol. It is argued that her psychosis was caused by the corticosteroid, since psychiatric disturbance is a well-known complication of corticosteroid therapy. To our knowledge, psychosis during pregnancy as a result of treatment with corticosteroids has not been reported previously.

A 45-year-old man with paranoid schizophrenia repeatedly developed hyponatraemia due to the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH), both after treatment with haloperidol and after taking quetiapine. This side effect did not occur subsequently during clozapine treatment. SIADH has been described in connection with almost all psychotropic drugs. Since the risk of developing SIADH is increased with increasing age, comorbid somatic disorders and polypharmacy, and the mean age of the psychiatric patient will further increase in the years to come, the physician should be alert to the risk factors and the clinical symptoms of disturbances in water balance; moreover, the proper differential diagnostic deliberations should be made. In case of increased risk, it is recommended to monitor the serum sodium during the first 2-4 weeks of pharmacotherapy.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and adverse reactions of typical and atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia, and to examine the evidence for the cerebrovascular events warning for atypical antipsychotics., Design: Systematic review., Method: Using Medline, Cinahl, PsyclNFO, Embase and the Cochrane central register of controlled trials (1980-2005), double-blind randomized controlled trials with intention-to-treat analysis were selected, which evaluated efficacy and adverse reactions of antipsychotics in the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms in dementia. The studies underwent a standardised validity assessment., Results: After screening 950 studies, 14 studies on the effect of haloperidol, risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, tiapride, loxapine and perphenazine were selected. In 7 out of 10 studies, haloperidol, risperidone and olanzapine appeared to be more effective than placebo in the treatment of aggression and psychosis. Direct comparison between typical and atypical antipsychotics revealed no statistically significant difference. The most common adverse reactions were extrapyramidal symptoms and somnolence. These adverse reactions were less frequent with low-dose risperidone than with haloperidol or olanzapine, but risperidone and olanzapine were found to be associated with a higher risk of cerebrovascular events in two studies., Conclusion: The efficacy of typical and atypical antipsychotics is comparable, but only low-dose risperidone seems to be associated with fewer (extrapyramidal) side effects. The adverse reactions are inadequately described in the published data and consequently the warning of an increased risk of mortality could not be confirmed.

Two critically ill girls, aged 2.3 years and 3.5 years respectively, developed delirium in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The first child, admitted with meningococcal meningitis and septic shock with respiratory failure, suffered from hyperactive delirium which started 2 hours post-extubation. The second child, admitted due to an exacerbation of cystic fibrosis with the threat of respiratory failure, suffered from hypoactive delirium with regression, inconsolability, dyspraxia and dysphasia. Both patients responded well to a single intravenous dose of haloperidol. Although delirium occurs in critically ill children, it often goes unrecognized, particularly in its hypoactive form. It should nevertheless be considered as a medical emergency, particularly in a PICU setting, and should be treated accordingly. Physicians are generally reluctant to consider psychopharmacological treatment of childhood delirium. Haloperidol is considered as the drug of choice, but risperidone can also be used successfully.

The pharmacotherapy advice contained in the 'Multidisciplinaire Richtlijn Schizofrenie 2005' (abbreviated to MDRS 2005 and translated as the Dutch Multidisciplinary Schizophrenia Guideline) is compared with the advice given in the 'Farmacotherapeutisch Kompas 2005' (abbreviated to FTK 2005 and translated as the Pharmacotherapy Compass 2005) and with international guidelines. FTK 2005, which is the Dutch National Health Insurance Formularium, recommends that treatment should start with a conventional (first-generation) antipsychotic, namely haloperidol. International guidelines, however, advise starting with an atypical (second-generation) antipsychotic. MDRS 2005 suggests that the pros and cons of the medication should be discussed with the patient and that the choice of drug should be based on the outcome of this discussion. Ifthat discussion becomes problematical then, according to MD RS 2005, it is advisable

A 62-year-old man presented with diminished consciousness, hypotension, hypoglycaemia and agitation. He had undergone heart surgery 1.5 weeks earlier. Due to a stroke as a postoperative complication, antihypertensive medication had been added. His lithium medication had been interrupted only on the first postoperative day. The presenting complaints were due to delirium as a result of lithium intoxication. The delirium faded away after interruption of the lithium medication and treatment with haloperidol and oxazepam. The patient and his family were informed as to the nature of the delirium and the precautions to be taken in case of any future disease or operation. Lithium should be discontinued preoperatively in all patients. If necessary, alternative psychiatric medication must be prescribed. After restarting lithium, the serum levels of lithium must be monitored.

Delirium is commonly encountered in elderly patients in general hospitals. Most patients with delirium respond well within 12 days of commencement of treatment with haloperidol. A significant number of patients, however, does not improve. Three elderly male patients aged 85, 79 and 81 respectively suffering from prolonged delirium and unresponsive to haloperidol or atypical anti-psychotic drugs, responded well within days to treatment with rivastigmine--a cholinesterase-inhibitor. It was very well tolerated. In The Netherlands cholinesterase inhibitors are registered for the symptomatic treatment of Alzheimer's disease. There is some evidence, both from animal and human experiments, that cholinergic deficiency plays a role in certain types of delirium. Therefore treatment of delirium with a cholinesterase-inhibitor seems logical. Controlled studies are needed to evaluate the effects of these types of drugs in patients with prolonged delirium.

A 86-year-old woman became psychotic one day after starting treatment with 800 mg norfloxacin daily. Discontinuation and short-term treatment with haloperidol were followed by rapid disappearance of symptoms within two days. Since 1984, the Netherlands Centre for Monitoring of Adverse Reactions to Drugs received 19 similar reports of which 12 were attributed to norfloxacin, 3 to ofloxacin and 4 to pipemidic acid. The risk appears to be relatively high in the elderly, especially if they have fever, renal dysfunction and a psychiatric history. Lowering the doses may solve this problem provided the bacterial susceptibility is taken into account.

A 15-year-old boy was admitted at age 10 because of muscle weakness, choreatic involuntary movements, and a profound hypotonia. He was diagnosed as having chorea mollis, a rare variant of Sydenham's chorea. He made a full recovery and received prophylaxis with monthly injections of benzathinebenzyl penicillin for the next 5 years. Six months after discontinuation of the prophylaxis he had a recurrence. The choreatic movements were successfully treated with haloperidol. However, a hypotonia and mild psychiatric symptoms still persist one year later. The clinical course, observed in our patient, is in concordance with the results of recent studies, reporting, that a number of patients with Sydenham's chorea may be left with mild to moderate neurologic and psychiatric sequelae.

Tourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder of motor and vocal tics, with associated symptoms of obsessive-compulsive behaviors and attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity. Genetic factors seem to play a major role, but the precise mode of inheritance is still not known. Intervention includes reassurance and support of child and family, medication if needed and guidance and advocacy in relation to school achievements. The major goal of treatment is to help the child succeed in moving along the various lines of development. Clonidine, a centrally active alpha2-noradrenergic agonist is the first choice of medical treatment in most cases. If clonidine fails, pimozide and haloperidol are considered to be good alternatives.