Reactions 893 - 16 Mar 2002

★Citalopram

First report of photosensitivity: case reportA 50-year-old woman experienced a photosensitivity

reaction after she started receiving citalopram for depression.The woman started treatment with citalopram 20 mg/day

with the dosage increased to 40 mg/day after 2 months. Eightmonths later, she presented with diffuse, brownish-blackpigmentation of sun-exposed areas of her skin, which hadstarted when her citalopram dosage was increased and hadgradually progressed. A photoprovocation test on non-sun-exposed areas resulted in darkening of her skin. A punchbiopsy revealed an atrophic epidermis, pigmentaryincontinence with melanophages, and sun-damaged collagenall through the dermis.

The woman stopped receiving citalopram and avoided sunexposure. Six months later, her photosensitivity reaction hadpartially regressed.

Author comment: ‘We observed a diffusephotopigmentation after administration of citalopram (40mg/day) without any inflammatory reaction indicating non-allergic response in our patient. Moreover, no known poormetabolizer of CYP2C19 could be identified.’Inaloz HS, et al. Citalopram-induced photopigmentation. Journal of Dermatology28: 742-745, Dec 2001 - Turkey 807208451

» Editorial comment: A search of AdisBase and Medline didnot reveal any previous case reports of photosensitivityassociated with citalopram. The WHO Adverse Drug Reactionsdatabase contains 32 reports of photosensitivity reactionsassociated with citalopram.

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Reactions 16 Mar 2002 No. 8930114-9954/10/0893-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved