title: [Cognitive impairment after accidental high-dose corticosteroid therapy].
abstract: Synthetic glucocorticosteroids can induce various severe mental disorders. Persisting cognitive disorder represents a rare complication of corticoid therapy involving memory, concentration, attention, or occupational performance. We observed the effects of a 20-day self-induced high-dose corticosteroid treatment on the cognitive functions in a 54-year-old patient. Having excluded dementia due to other organic causes, we examined the patient neuropsychologically immediately at the end of the steroid therapy and at follow-up (1, 2, 4, and 6 months). The initial tests showed seriously impaired functioning of concentration, attention, learning, and memory as well as of common ability to solve problems. The follow-up tests up to 6 months revealed an improvement of concentration and attention, but there were still serious deficits of the declarative memory with a high confabulating tendency. Our results confirm those of human experimental studies that exogenous steroids can cause serious persisting specific cognitive disorders especially of the declarative, hippocampus-dependent memory.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Medizinische Fakultät, Universitätsklinikum RWTH Aachen.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arndt
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kunert
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sass
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Norra
mesh_terms: D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D003639:Hearing Loss, Sudden / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008508:Medication Errors; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011605:Psychoses, Substance-Induced / Q000175:diagnosis; D012646:Self Administration; D012651:Self Medication
chemical_list: D003907:Dexamethasone
vernacular_title: Kognitive Störungen nach akzidenteller hoch dosierter Kortisontherapie.