title: Leukoencephalopathy and akinetic mutism in a married couple: a probable association with oriental medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oriental medicines have been associated with severe psychiatric, neurological, and other adverse medical events. These medicines occasionally cause a typical reversible toxic encephalopathy, but most such cases are not recognized because these adverse events are complex and are associated with other systemic signs and symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe a married couple with rapid progressive cognitive impairment and akinetic mutism after taking the same oriental medicines on the same day. Brain magnetic resonance images of the couple showed typical leukoencephalopathy in the periventricular white matter and basal ganglia regions, bilaterally.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The development of neurobehavioral symptoms and toxic leukoencephalopathy in both patients following the ingestion of oriental medicines is suggestive of a cause-and-effect association, although such a relationship needs to be verified.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Eek-sung
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ick-Sung
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young-Do
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Se-Yoon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Joong-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim