title: Successful use of intravenous clomipramine in depressive-catatonic state associated with corticosteroid treatment.
abstract: We report two female patients who deteriorated to depressive-catatonic state after interepisode recovery from a hypomanic episode induced by corticosteroid treatment. Their symptoms developed during maintenance treatment with a low dose of prednisolone in Case 1 and after discontinuation of betamethasone in Case 2. Intravenous clomipramine successfully relieved their symptoms including reduction in contact and reactivity, immobility and mutism. These two patients showed no schizophrenic symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions. Corticosteroid-induced mood disorder can deteriorate into depressive stupor, severe depressive episode with catatonic features in DSM-IV. Clomipramine, a tricyclic antidepressant with relatively stronger serotonin reuptake inhibition, is one of the useful treatment options for corticosteroid-induced depression even in severe cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Hiroshima City Hospital, 7-33, Moto-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima, 730-8518, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wada
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taira
authors.forename: Kazufumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akiyama
authors.forename: Shigetoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuroda
keywords: catatonia; clomipramine; corticosteroid; depressive stupor; mood disorder