Classics in ECT: Kalinowsky on "Pernicious" Catatonia and NMS, 1987

 "Classics in ECT" brings you this 1987 LTE from Lothar Kalinowsky:

Lethal catatonia and neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

Kalinowsky LB.Am J Psychiatry. 1987 Aug;144(8):1106-7. doi: 10.1176/ajp.144.8.1106.PMID: 3605438


The pdf is here. (This includes the Mann and Caroff reply)


This is Kalinowsky's penultimate PubMed publication. He proposes an alternative name for lethal catatonia, "pernicious catatonia," since a good outcome may be achieved with timely ECT. He goes on to discuss the differential diagnosis of lethal catatonia and NMS; this argument is taken up in the reply LTE by Mann and Caroff. They opine that most, but not all, cases of NMS are distinguishable from "functional" lethal catatonia and that malignant hyperthermia is a different entity.
I'm not sure if all aspects of the differential diagnosis debate have been settled by 2021; but I am sure that the catatonia experts will have comments.




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