title: Cerebellar degeneration in neuroleptic malignant syndrome: neuropathologic findings and review of the literature concerning heat-related nervous system injury.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology (Neuropathology), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 10461.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Merriam
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liebling
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Dickson
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Moore
mesh_terms: 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*
chemical_list: D006220:Haloperidol