A syndrome of abnormal movements and dementia in leucotomized patients treated with phenothiazines

Prevalence of Persistent Abnormal Involuntary Movements among Patients in a Nigerian Long-Stay Psychiatric Unit

“…Guttmanet al [1970] remarked that older patients receiving high dosages of neuroleptics developed extrapyramidal signs more frequently than younger patients. This observation might have relevance to the increase in brain pathology in the older age group [Edwards, 1970, Hunter et al, 1964Famuyiwa et al, 1979;Perris et al, 1979]. Similarly, Brandon et al's [1971] finding of facial dyskinesia in patients who had never been exposed to neuroleptics would suggest other possible causes of such dyskinesia.…”

“…The prevalence estimates of this disorder range from 0.5 to over 40% [Crane, 1973]. The discrepancy in the prevalence rates has been attributed to the definition of the syndrome, the type of patient population, the methods used in obtaining information and the clinical assessment of symptoms.In most of the prevalence reports on dyskinetic syndrome, females tend to predominate [Hunter et al, 1964; Demurs, 1966; Turunen and Achte, 1967;Brandon et al, 1971]. Perris et al [1979] attributed this observation to the…”

“…These reports stressed that dyskinetic movements are often unresponsive to anti parkinsonian agents and sometimes persist after phenothiazine withdrawal. Uhrbrand and Faurbye [1960] described such motor disorder as tardive dys kinesia while Hunter et al [1964] called it persistent dyskinesia. In a special report, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology [1973] lucidly described the features of tardive dyskinesia.…”

Severe persistent chorea with phenothiazine therapy: report of a case

“…The syndrome has been reviewed by Crane (1968) and Kline (1968). Some of the patients described also showed dyskinesia affecting the neck, limbs and trunk, manifesting usually as generalized restlessness or minor choreiform movements at the extremities (Hunter, Earl & Janz, 1964;Faurbye et al, 1964;Pryce & Edwards, 1966). More violent choreiform movements may rarely occur (Druckman, Seelinger & Thulin, 1962;Kennedy, 1969).…”

Treatment of Dyskinetic and Choreatic Movement Disorders in Adults

“…The syn drome may occur in the wake of a cerebrovascular accident or brain injury. An increasingly frequent cause of the BLM syndrome has been the use in the last 20 years of neuroleptic drugs of the phenothiazine type {Hunter et al., 1964;Crane, 1968;Klawans, 1973). A strange feature of the syndrome has been that although it can be induced by phenothiazines, the symptoms may appear either during the administration of the drug or after it has been withdrawn.…”