Citalopram treatment of traumatic brain damage in a 6-year-old boy.
Traumatic brain damage may cause acute emotional symptoms such as uncontrolled crying, apathy, and sleep problems. Rehabilitation may be less effective in patients afflicted by these symptoms. Citalopram, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), has a documented immediate and dramatic effect on pathological crying in stroke patients. The present case history of a 6-year-old boy with a traumatic right-sided hemorrhage in the basal ganglia indicates that early SSRI treatment has a dramatic effect on pathological crying and in addition may have a concomitant beneficial effect on motor paresis, sleep disturbance, and neurobehavioral problems.
Andersen
G
G
Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Aarhus, Denmark. AKH.GRPO2S.GAN.aaa.dk
Stylsvig
M
M
Sunde
N
N
D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000187:drug effects / Q000293:injuries* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001526:Behavioral Symptoms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002648:Child; D015283:Citalopram / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003448:Crying / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D015283:Citalopram; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors