title: [Two cases of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy].
abstract: Metronidazole is a 5-nitroimidazole compound known as an antimicrobial agent widely used for the treatment of protozoal infection, anaerobic infection, Helicobacter pylori infection and hepatic encephalopathy. It may produce a number of neurologic side effects including peripheral neuropathy, seizure, encephalopathy, ataxic gait and dysarthritic speech. There have been ten or more reports of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy in the literatures including a few reports of brain imaging changes by magnetic resonance images (MRI). However, none of the case of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy in patients with hepatic encephalopathy has been reported yet. Recently, we experienced two cases of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis caused by chronic hepatitis B, which were diagnosed by brain MRI and MR spectroscopy. In this report, we present 2 cases of metronidazole-induced encephalopathy with MR imaging and MR spectroscopic changes including follow-up imaging performed after the discontinuation of the metronidazole with a review of the literatures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu 705-717, Korea.
authors.forename: Kook Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae Won
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Ji Yun
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tae Dong
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong Hae
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Paek
authors.forename: Eun Ju
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hyun A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Jun Hwan
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Byeong Ik
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Tae Nyeun
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Moon Kwan
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Heon Ju
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Woo Mok
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Byun
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008297:Male; D008795:Metronidazole / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D008795:Metronidazole