Citation

Bae KY, Yang SJ, Kim JM, Kang GE, Kim YO, Yoon JS. J. Korean Neuropsychiatr. Assoc. 2009; 48(6): 510-514.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Korea. jsyoon@chonnam.ac.kr

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Korean Neuropsychiatric Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Antipsychotic poisoning may cause significant adverse effects, such as a change in consciousness and extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS), in infants and toddlers. We report the sibling cases of a 33-month-old sister and 11-month-old brother who both presented with altered states of consciousness and cervical rigidity after acute haloperidol poisoning. Initially, the pediatrician suspected a central nervous system infection, as the patients exhibited confused mental states, cervical rigidity, and ataxia in the emergency room. Various laboratory and imaging tests, including cerebrospinal fluid examinations, electroencephalograms, and brain computerized tomography did not show any particular abnormalities. After 1 day, the patients' mother reported that she had a current haloperidol prescription, for the treatment of schizophrenia. After 3 days of symptomatic treatment, the two siblings recovered completely, without significant sequelae. Haloperidol was detected in their plasma, at concentrations of 2.1 ng/mL in the sister and 2.5 ng/mL in the brother. We emphasize that, when administering antipsychotics to patients living with young children, family education to prevent unintentional antipsychotic poisoning is essential. Clinicians must take account of the possibility of antipsychotics poisoning when a child suddenly presents an altered state of consciousness and/or suspicious EPS with no clear reason.