The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry
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Am J Geriatr Psychiatry · May 2002
Suppression of catatonia-like signs by lorazepam in nonconvulsive status epilepticus without seizure termination.
Nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) cannot be reliably distinguished from catatonia by signs or symptoms. The authors report on a 68-year-old man with endogenous major depression who displayed catatonia-like psychopathology, which temporarily disappeared with lorazepam. ⋯ When lorazepam was stopped, the catatonia-like delirium returned; it disappeared again with valproate administration. This case illustrates that the reduction of signs consistent with catatonia by benzodiazepines does not by itself confirm catatonia, even in patients with endogenous depression.