Cerebellar degeneration in neuroleptic malignant syndrome: neuropathologic findings and review of the literature concerning heat-related nervous system injury.
A selective subtotal cerebellar neuronal degeneration was found in a patient who died 4 1/2 months after suffering neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS), a rare, potentially fatal disorder associated with neuroleptic medications. It is suggested that the cerebellar neuronal degeneration in this case was due to hyperpyrexia, a cardinal clinical feature of NMS. Similar pathologic findings appear not to have been previously reported in NMS but have been described in heat-induced central nervous system (CNS) injury. The findings imply that a cerebellar syndrome might be encountered in patients who survive NMS complicated by a particularly high febrile course.
Lee
S
S
Department of Pathology (Neuropathology), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461.
Merriam
A
A
Kim
T S
TS
Liebling
M
M
Dickson
D W
DW
Moore
G R
GR
D000328:Adult; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005334:Fever / Q000473:pathology*; D006220:Haloperidol / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009410:Nerve Degeneration; D009459:Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome / Q000473:pathology*; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*
D006220:Haloperidol