Levofloxacin-induced delirium in a patient suffering from schizoaffective disorder and multiple sclerosis

Levofloxacin induced psychiatric adverse effects are rare, although they can be serious. There are just five cases of fluoroquinolone-induced delirium published in the medical literature. To our best knowledge, none of them occurred in psychotic patients. We report a case of a 38-year-old Caucasian...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurrent drug safety Vol. 8; no. 3; p. 199
Main Authors Lertxundi, Unax, Palacios, Rafael Hernandez, Gutierrez, Fernando Cibrián, Domingo-Echaburu, Saioa, García, Monserrat García, Gomez, Carmelo Aguirre
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United Arab Emirates 01.07.2013
Subjects
Adult
Anti-Bacterial Agents - adverse effects
Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use
Delirium - chemically induced
Hallucinations - chemically induced
Humans
Levofloxacin - adverse effects
Levofloxacin - therapeutic use
Male
Multiple Sclerosis - complications
Psychotic Disorders - complications
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Summary:Levofloxacin induced psychiatric adverse effects are rare, although they can be serious. There are just five cases of fluoroquinolone-induced delirium published in the medical literature. To our best knowledge, none of them occurred in psychotic patients. We report a case of a 38-year-old Caucasian man diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and multiple sclerosis who developed delirium and visual hallucinations after initiating levofloxacin therapy. In psychiatric patients, suspecting levofloxacin could be responsible for the symptoms can be a diagnostic challenge, since they could be interpreted like worsening of the mental state as well. Although levofloxacin-induced delirium is a rare adverse event, physicians should be aware of the occurrence of this serious, but potentially reversible CNS complication of levofloxacin, even in psychotic patients.
ISSN:2212-3911