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. 1989 Mar;52(3):387–391. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.52.3.387

Cerebellar degeneration in neuroleptic malignant syndrome: neuropathologic findings and review of the literature concerning heat-related nervous system injury.

S Lee 1, A Merriam 1, T S Kim 1, M Liebling 1, D W Dickson 1, G R Moore 1
PMCID: PMC1032416  PMID: 2647908

Abstract

A selective subtotal cerebellar neuronal degeneration was found in a patient who died 4 1/2 months after suffering neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS), a rare, potentially fatal disorder associated with neuroleptic medications. It is suggested that the cerebellar neuronal degeneration in this case was due to hyperpyrexia, a cardinal clinical feature of NMS. Similar pathologic findings appear not to have been previously reported in NMS but have been described in heat-induced central nervous system (CNS) injury. The findings imply that a cerebellar syndrome might be encountered in patients who survive NMS complicated by a particularly high febrile course.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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