scholarly journals A Case of Psychosis in Disulfiram Treatment for Alcoholism

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Calvão de Melo ◽  
Rui Lopes ◽  
José Carlos Alves

Background. Disulfiram, a drug used in the treatment of alcohol dependence, is an inhibitor of dopamine-β-hydroxylase causing an increase in the concentration of dopamine in the mesolimbic system. In addition to the physical symptoms associated with concomitant use of alcohol, disulfiram may lead to adverse events, when used alone, including psychosis.Aims. To report a case of a rare complication when using disulfiram for alcoholism treatment in a patient in alcoholic abstinence.Case Report. We describe the case of a 42-year-old male patient, who developed psychotic symptoms 3 weeks after initiating treatment with disulfiram for alcohol dependency. The patient had a history of chronic alcoholism for 12 years and was under disulfiram treatment (250 mg/day) for 1 month, with no other past history of psychiatric illness. The symptoms worsened after he initiated alcohol consumption, while taking disulfiram. The patient was hospitalized and disulfiram was suspended. After 4 days he was asymptomatic and at 6-week follow-up remained asymptomatic.Conclusion. Treatment with disulfiram can lead to the appearance of psychosis in patients with increased vulnerability. In clinical practice, psychosis in the context of alcoholism with disulfiram therapy is often neglected and should be taken into account.

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria do Céu Ferreira ◽  
Célia Machado ◽  
Beatriz Santos ◽  
Álvaro Machado

Abstract Objective: To describe a rare case of a patient who developed psychotic symptoms after a right stroke that disappeared with antipsychotic treatment, but appears to need low-dose maintenance antipsychotic therapy. Case description: A 65-year-old man presented at the psychiatric emergency service with a history of persistent delusional jealousy, visual illusions and agitation with onset about 1 month after a right posterior cerebral artery ischemic stroke. These symptoms only disappeared with therapeutic dosages of an antipsychotic drug (3 mg/day of risperidone). At 2-year follow-up, he no longer had delusional activity and the antipsychotic treatment was gradually discontinued over the following year. However, 1 week after full cessation, the patient once more became agitated and suspicious and was put back on risperidone at 0.25 mg/day, resulting in rapid clinical remission. One year after the return to low-dose risperidone, the patient's psychopathology is still under control and he is free from psychotic symptoms. Comments: Psychosis is a relatively rare complication after stroke. To our knowledge, no cases of post-stroke psychosis that apparently require continuous low-dose antipsychotic treatment have been reported to date. Our case suggests that low-dose maintenance antipsychotic therapy may be needed for certain patients with post-stroke psychosis, especially for those with risk factors and non-acute onset.


1995 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Lawrence ◽  
J. C. Hillam

We describe two cases of Binswanger's disease of pre-senile onset which presented with affective and psychotic symptoms well before the appearance of cognitive deterioration and neurological signs, initially evading an accurate diagnosis. Psychiatrists should be aware of white matter disease and its role in the pathogenesis of psychiatric illness. Particular attention should be given to a history of hypertension as a risk factor in the early identification of these cases.


2006 ◽  
Vol 96 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 127-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Rende ◽  
Boris Birmaher ◽  
David Axelson ◽  
Michael Strober ◽  
Mary Kay Gill ◽  
...  

2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Menno E van der Elst ◽  
Nelly Cisneros-Gonzalez ◽  
Cornelis J de Blaey ◽  
Henk Buurma ◽  
Anthonius de Boer

OBJECTIVE To examine the use of oral antithrombotics (i.e., antiplatelet agents, oral anticoagulants) after myocardial infarction (MI) in the Netherlands from 1988 to 1998. METHODS Retrospective follow-up of 3800 patients with MI, using data from the PHARMO Record Linkage System. RESULTS From 1988 to 1998, oral antithrombotic treatment increased significantly from 54.0% to 88.9%. In 1998, only 75.8% of patients who experienced a MI in the late 1980s received oral antithrombotic treatment compared with 94.4% of those who experienced a recent MI. CONCLUSIONS Oral antithrombotics were considerably underused in patients with a past history of MI. Therefore, these patients should be reviewed for antithrombotic therapy to assess whether their failure to use oral antithrombotics was right or wrong, and whether treatment should be initiated if possible.


2010 ◽  
Vol 92 (8) ◽  
pp. 706-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Davenport ◽  
Francis X Keeley ◽  
Anthony G Timoney

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to audit our experience of cystodiathermy under local anaesthetic (LA) at the time of flexible cystoscopy for recurrent superficial bladder transitional cell carcinoma (TCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS A total of 264 flexible cystoscopies were performed on patients with a past history of TCC. The number and site of recurrences were recorded and selected patients were offered cystodiathermy. Patient tolerability was noted. At follow-up, any recurrence was recorded. RESULTS Eighty patients (30%) had 91 procedures showing one or more recurrences. Fifty-one of the 80 patients (64%) were treated with cystodiathermy under LA. All completed treatment. Forty-five (88%) tolerated the procedure well. Forty-seven (92%) treatments were completed within 5 min. At a median follow-up of 15 weeks, 30 (59%) treated patients had no recurrence and three (6%) had recurrence at the site of treatment. CONCLUSIONS LA cystodiathermy is an effective and well-tolerated alternative to general anaesthetic cystodiathermy that enables treatment at the time of detection and may, thereby, reduce patient anxiety.


2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-79
Author(s):  
Mark Savage ◽  
Ross Kung ◽  
Cameron Green ◽  
Brandon Thia ◽  
Dinushka Perera ◽  
...  

Objective: To describe the characteristics of patients presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) following overdoses; to identify risk factors for intensive care unit (ICU) admission among these patients; and to identify the rate of mortality and repeat overdose presentations over four years. Methods: Adult patients presenting to ED following drug overdose during 2014 were included. Data were collected from medical notes and hospital databases. Results: During the study period, 654 patients presented to ED 800 times following overdose. Seventy-eight (9.8%) resulted in ICU admission, and 59 (7.4%) required intubation; 57.2% had no history of overdose presentations, and 72.9% involved patients with known psychiatric illness. Overdose of atypical antipsychotics (AAP), age and history of prior overdose independently predicted ICU admission. A third of patients ( n = 196, 30%) had subsequent presentations to ED following overdose, in the four years from their index presentation, with an all-cause four-year mortality of 3.4% ( n = 22). Conclusion: A history of overdose, use of AAP and older age were risk factors for ICU admission following ED presentations. Over a third of patients had repeat overdose presentation in the four-year follow-up with a mortality of 3.4%.


2005 ◽  
Vol 186 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma Robertson ◽  
Ian Jones ◽  
Sayeed Haque ◽  
Roger Holder ◽  
Nick Craddock

SummaryThe clinical value of information on the risk of future psychiatric illness in women who have experienced puerperal (post-partum) psychosis has been limited by inconsistencies in terminology and nosology. Here we report rates of subsequent puerperal and non-puerperal episodes, in a well-characterised sample of women diagnosed with clearly defined bipolar affective puerperal psychosis (n=103). Out of 54 women having further children, 31 (57%; 95% Cl 44–69) experienced an additional puerperal psychotic episode, and 64 of 103 women (62%; 95%Cl 52–71) experienced a non-puerperal affective episode during the follow-up period (mean duration 9 years). A history of bipolar episodes prior to the puerperal psychosis did not predict risk following subsequent pregnancies, but positive family history of mental illness predicted shorter time to non-puerperal relapse.


2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 11018-11018
Author(s):  
Brittany Siontis ◽  
Emily Roberts ◽  
Lili Zhao ◽  
Jonathan B. McHugh ◽  
Dawn Owen ◽  
...  

11018 Background: Osteosarcoma (osarc) can be a rare complication from radiation (rt) therapy. Radiation-associated osarc (RAO) is reported to have a worse prognosis than non rt-associated osarc with limited objective data comparing the two. We conducted a retrospective study comparing demographics, therapy and outcomes of sporadic osarc (SO) to RAO. This study was confined to adults. Methods: We identified patients (pts) > age 18 years (yr) with osarc treated at our institution between 1990 and 2016 using an institutional database. We categorized tumors as SO or RAO based on history of prior rt within field of osarc. We extracted data on demographics, treatment, and primary malignancy characteristics. Results: We identified 159 pts with osarc, 28 were RAO tumors. Results are in Table 1. Median follow-up was 2.8 yr (0.1-19.6 yr). For RAO, median time from rt to diagnosis was 11.5 yr (1.5-28 yr) with a median cumulative dose of 60 Gy (44-75.8 Gy). Median progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were not significantly different in pts presenting with metastatic osarc; PFS 10.3 mo vs 4.8 mo (p=0.45) and OS 15.6 mo vs 6.1 mo (p=0.96) in SO vs RAO pts, respectively. For pts with localized osarc, median relapse-free survival (RFS) and OS were significantly different, not reached vs 12.2 mo (p<0.001) and not reached vs 27.6 mo (p=0.001) in SO vs RAO, respectively. Conclusions: In our series, there was a significant difference in age, size and location of RAO vs non rt-associated osarc. Overall, all osarc pts with metastatic disease at diagnosis fared poorly. Pts presenting with localized RAO had worse outcomes than patients with localized SO. This was not associated with a detectable difference in therapy rendered or treatment effect in resection specimens. [Table: see text]


2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Laugharne ◽  
Deborah Marshall ◽  
Jon Laugharne ◽  
Alan Hassard

Many patients with a functional psychosis are likely to have a history of trauma and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); some may be traumatized by their psychotic symptoms. We present a series of vignettes to describe eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) treatment of 4 patients suffering from a functional psychotic illness who had a significant history of trauma. After receiving EMDR, each patient showed an improvement in their PTSD symptoms and reported an improvement in the quality of their lives. Follow-up at 3–6 years indicated that the treatment effects were maintained, with changes evident in elimination of trauma-related delusions, reduction in anxiety and depression, fewer hospital admissions, and overall improved quality of life. Because a history of trauma and PTSD symptoms are more frequent in patients with a psychosis, and trauma may be an etiological component of psychosis, EMDR treatment needs to be researched and explored as a treatment opportunity.


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