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Encephalopathy Resembling Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease Following Oral, Prescribed Doses of Bismuth Nitrate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Michael J. Von Bose
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institute for Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 10, D-8000 München 40, Germany
Michael Zaudig*
Affiliation:
Max-Planck-Institute for Psychiatry, Kraepelinstr. 10, D-8000 München 40, Germany
*
Correspondence

Abstract

A patient given bismuth nitrate in the recommended dose range over 16 months developed panic attacks and a major depressive syndrome and, after 15 months, a myoclonic encephalopathy resembling Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease. He recovered four months after bismuth had been discontinued. Bismuth preparations are becoming popular in the treatment of gastritis; close attention to neurological and psychiatric symptoms seems mandatory.

Type
Brief Reports
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1991 

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