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An Extrapyramidal Syndrome after Lithium Therapy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

P. Tyrer ,
M. S. Alexander ,
Adrienne Regan  and
I. Lee
P. Tyrer
Affiliation:
University of Southampton (now Consultant Psychiatrist, Mapperley Hospital, Nottingham NG3 6AA)
M. S. Alexander
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
Adrienne Regan
Affiliation:
Knowle Hospital, Fareham, Hants
I. Lee
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton
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Summary

Two patients developed an extrapyramidal syndrome after therapy with lithium carbonate. Although the clinical features of this syndrome were indistinguishable from those of drug-induced parkinsonism, it was made worse by the anti-parkinsonian drug, orphenadrine. These findings were reproduced later under laboratory conditions when extrapyramidal symptoms and physiological tremor were recorded before and after challenge doses of orphenadrine. This unwanted effect of lithium carbonate may be explained by selective blockade of dopamine receptors.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 136 , Issue 2 , February 1980 , pp. 191 - 194
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1980 

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