Catatonia in a teenager after use of mephedrone as a recreational drug

AIMS: The authors report a case of catatonia secondary to exposure to mephedrone, a semisynthetic derivative of the alkaloid cathinone, and review the literature on this substance that has been increasingly used as a recreational drug. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 14 year old boy was taken to the emergency r...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Antunes, Joaquina da Conceição Fernandes, Urbano, Neide, Estrada, João, Ramos, José, Afonso, Joana, Vieira, José Pedro, Ventura, Lurdes
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2013
País:Brasil
Institución:Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS)
Repositorio:Scientia Medica (Porto Alegre. Online)
Idioma:portugués
inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ojs.revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br:article/14487
Acceso en línea:https://revistaseletronicas.pucrs.br/scientiamedica/article/view/14487
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:CATATONIA
DRUG TOXICITY
STREET DRUGS
SUBSTANCE-RELATED DISORDERS
MEPHEDRONE
RECREATIONAL DRUGS.
TOXICIDADE DE DROGAS
DROGAS ILÍCITAS
TRANSTORNOS POR USO DE SUBSTÂNCIAS PSICOATIVAS
MEFEDRONA
DROGAS RECREATIVAS.
Descripción
Sumario:AIMS: The authors report a case of catatonia secondary to exposure to mephedrone, a semisynthetic derivative of the alkaloid cathinone, and review the literature on this substance that has been increasingly used as a recreational drug. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 14 year old boy was taken to the emergency room presenting severe psychomotor agitation with self and heteroaggressiveness followed by stupor, mutism and akinesia. On the admission examination the patient was unresponsive to stimuli. Complementary examination showed no significant changes. During hospitalization he had two episodes of severe psychomotor agitation and in the rest of the time he kept a pseudo-comatose state. After knowledge on the consumption of mephedrone prior to the onset of symptoms and facing the diagnostic hypothesis of catatonia, lorazepam was started, after which the patient showed rapid and complete recovery. CONCLUSIONS: According to the reviewed literature, this is the first published report of catatonia associated with consumption of mephedrone. The case illustrates a severe psychiatric manifestation secondary to exposure to this recreational drug, easily acquired by adolescents despite fatalities associated with its consumption have already been described.