title: [Pleural effusion associated with long-term dantrolene administration in three patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities].
abstract: Chronic unilateral pleural effusion developed in three patients with severe motor and intellectual disabilities. All patients received 5-15 years of dantrolene administration for their spasticity. The cause of pleural effusion was indistinct, despite close investigations for etiologies such as infection or tumor. The pleural fluid consisted of sterile exudate in all patients. One patient had eosinophilia in his pleural fluid, while peripheral blood eosinophilia was seen in the other two. The pleural biopsy and autopsy specimens revealed only non-specific inflammatory findings. After dantrolene therapy was discontinued, pleural effusion almost disappeared in two patients in the following several months, but the other died of multi-organ failure from another underlying disease. It is important to take chemical pleurisy into consideration when dealing with pleural effusion of unknown etiology. Moreover, respiratory side effect should be examined in patients treated with chronic dantrolene administration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Neurology, National Center Hospital for Mental, Nervous and Muscular Disorders, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira, Tokyo. mario@ncnp.go.jp
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masuyama
authors.forename: Yoshinao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujikawa
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Komaki
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugai
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sasaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003620:Dantrolene / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D004802:Eosinophilia / Q000139:chemically induced; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009069:Movement Disorders; D009125:Muscle Relaxants, Central / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000188:drug therapy; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D009125:Muscle Relaxants, Central; D003620:Dantrolene