title: Infantile chorea following abrupt withdrawal of diazepam and pentobarbital therapy.
abstract: The acute onset of chorea was seen in a ten week-old male following abrupt cessation of a seven-day course of sedation with diazepam and pentobarbital. These movements slowly resolved over a six-day period and the infant was without neurologic sequelae one week after his chorea resolved. A cerebral MRI was normal. We speculate that the mechanism by which chorea may occur as a withdrawal phenomenon to benzodiazepine/barbiturate treatment is by a functional overactivity of the dopaminergic system in the basal ganglia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Patrick
authors.forename: L K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Snelling
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Ment
mesh_terms: D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D002819:Chorea / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003975:Diazepam / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D010424:Pentobarbital; D003975:Diazepam