Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the Literature
Hallucinations are common in neurodegenerative dementias, being present in a significant proportion of patients. Most of the available studies show that acetylcholinesterase inhibitors may be beneficial in preventing and treating hallucinations in patients with neurodegenerative and even psychiatric...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Karger Publishers
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Case Reports in Neurology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/526159 |
| _version_ | 1798021883630714880 |
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| author | Federico Emanuele Pozzi Lucio Tremolizzo Carlo Ferrarese Ildebrando Appollonio |
| author_facet | Federico Emanuele Pozzi Lucio Tremolizzo Carlo Ferrarese Ildebrando Appollonio |
| author_sort | Federico Emanuele Pozzi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Hallucinations are common in neurodegenerative dementias, being present in a significant proportion of patients. Most of the available studies show that acetylcholinesterase inhibitors may be beneficial in preventing and treating hallucinations in patients with neurodegenerative and even psychiatric disorders, even though there are reports that they might also develop as an adverse effect of such therapy. However, a clear causal relationship for the latter association was not previously established. Here we describe 2 cases of patients treated with donepezil who developed complex multimodal hallucinations, which could be causally linked to the drug by means of a challenge-dechallenge (and rechallenge in one case) paradigm. We also provide a narrative review of the literature regarding donepezil and hallucinations and propose a hypothesis to explain the occurrence of this phenomenon. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:20:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e5316c63857b4d4f800dc41a7a735843 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-680X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T17:20:45Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Karger Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Case Reports in Neurology |
| spelling | doaj.art-e5316c63857b4d4f800dc41a7a7358432022-12-22T04:12:30ZengKarger PublishersCase Reports in Neurology1662-680X2022-09-0114335936510.1159/000526159526159Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the LiteratureFederico Emanuele Pozzi0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2982-9165Lucio Tremolizzo1Carlo Ferrarese2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7499-6600Ildebrando Appollonio3Department of Neurology, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, ItalyDepartment of Neurology, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, ItalyDepartment of Neurology, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, ItalyDepartment of Neurology, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, ItalyHallucinations are common in neurodegenerative dementias, being present in a significant proportion of patients. Most of the available studies show that acetylcholinesterase inhibitors may be beneficial in preventing and treating hallucinations in patients with neurodegenerative and even psychiatric disorders, even though there are reports that they might also develop as an adverse effect of such therapy. However, a clear causal relationship for the latter association was not previously established. Here we describe 2 cases of patients treated with donepezil who developed complex multimodal hallucinations, which could be causally linked to the drug by means of a challenge-dechallenge (and rechallenge in one case) paradigm. We also provide a narrative review of the literature regarding donepezil and hallucinations and propose a hypothesis to explain the occurrence of this phenomenon.https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/526159donepezilhallucinationsalzheimer’s diseaseadverse events |
| spellingShingle | Federico Emanuele Pozzi Lucio Tremolizzo Carlo Ferrarese Ildebrando Appollonio Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the Literature Case Reports in Neurology donepezil hallucinations alzheimer’s disease adverse events |
| title | Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the Literature |
| title_full | Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the Literature |
| title_fullStr | Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the Literature |
| title_full_unstemmed | Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the Literature |
| title_short | Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the Literature |
| title_sort | donepezil induced complex multimodal hallucinations two cases and a review of the literature |
| topic | donepezil hallucinations alzheimer’s disease adverse events |
| url | https://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/526159 |
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