Idiopathic recurrent catatonia needs maintenance lorazepam: case report and review.
OBJECTIVE
Catatonia as a phenomenon has been well described with either a schizophrenic illness, severe mood disorders or periodic catatonia disorder. We aim to report a patient who had recurrent catatonia that responded to and required lorazepam for maintenance.


METHODS
We describe the case of a 28 year old woman who had a history of recurrent catatonia that was unresponsive to most anti-psychotics, but who responded to high doses of lorazepam and needed long-term lorazepam for maintenance.


CONCLUSIONS
Our patient met the criteria for a diagnosis of idiopathic catatonic disorder. Response to lorazepam suggests that a certain group of patients may require long-term treatment with lorazepam, especially those who may have down-regulation of GABA-A receptors.
Manjunatha
Narayana
N
Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi, India. ha@gmail.com
Saddichha
Sahoo
S
Khess
Christoday R-J
CR
D000328:Adult; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008134:Long-Term Care; D008140:Lorazepam / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012560:Schizophrenia, Catatonic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D008140:Lorazepam