Infantile chorea following abrupt withdrawal of diazepam and pentobarbital therapy.
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.
Patrick
S J
SJ
Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510.
Snelling
L K
LK
Ment
L R
LR
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*
D010424:Pentobarbital; D003975:Diazepam