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Case Reports
. 2012 Apr;16(2):106-8.
doi: 10.4103/0972-5229.99128.

A sound sleep

Rudra Prosad Goswami  1 , Swati Mondal, Subrata Basu, Partha Sarathi Karmakar, Alakendu Ghosh
Affiliations
Case Reports

A sound sleep

Rudra Prosad Goswami et al. Indian J Crit Care Med. 2012 Apr.

Abstract

Benzodiazepine is a commonly encountered agent of poisoning, which is readily diagnosed by a pertinent history of drug ingestion and the clinical scenario. In the absence of a proper drug history, the diagnosis becomes challenging. Proper clinical assessment, urine assays and imaging play a very important role in reaching the diagnosis. We present a case of acute benzodiazepine poisoning without a history of drug intake. The key pointers toward diagnosis were an unarousable state with obstructive apnea. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain revealed peculiar symmetrical isolated globus pallidus T2 hyperintensity. We believe this to be the first report of isolated bilateral basal ganglia T2-weighted hyperintensity in MRI in the setting of acute benzodiazepine poisoning from India.

Keywords: Benzodiazepine; India; MRI; bilateral basal ganglia hyperintensity; poisoning.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain of the patient showing bilateral T2-weighted globus pallidus hyperintensities (indicated by arrows)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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