Reactions 1252 - 16 May 2009

Citalopram

Visual hallucinations in an elderly patient: casereport

A 68-year-old woman developed visual hallucinationsduring treatment with citalopram for nonpsychotic majordepressive disorder.

The woman started receiving citalopram 20 mg/day inthe mornings. After 2 days, she developed horrifying visualhallucinations. She was disturbed and saw differentanimals around her that sometimes attacked her. She knewthey were not real.

The woman stopped taking citalopram and herhallucinations completely resolved in 2 days.

Rechallenge with citalopram was attempted and thewoman’s hallucinations recurred within 2 days of startingthe medication; this time her hallucinations were evenmore severe. Citalopram was stopped and herhallucinations stopped in 2 days. Citalopram was replacedwith nortriptyline and, on follow-up after 6 months, shehad not experienced visual hallucinations with this drug.

Author comment: "According to the criteria of theNaranjo Adverse Drug Reaction Probability Scale, thelikelihood of citalopram use causing visual hallucination inthis case was ‘probable’ (score 6)."Mowla A, et al. Citalopram associated with complex visual hallucination, a casereport. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 33:575-576, No. 3, 30 Apr 2009 - Iran 801141272

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Reactions 16 May 2009 No. 12520114-9954/10/1252-0001/$14.95 © 2010 Adis Data Information BV. All rights reserved