Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Dec 9:5:181.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00181. eCollection 2014.

A clinical review of the treatment of catatonia

Pascal Sienaert  1 , Dirk M Dhossche  2 , Davy Vancampfort  3 , Marc De Hert  3 , Gábor Gazdag  4
Affiliations
Review

A clinical review of the treatment of catatonia

Pascal Sienaert et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Catatonia is a severe motor syndrome with an estimated prevalence among psychiatric inpatients of about 10%. At times, it is life-threatening especially in its malignant form when complicated by fever and autonomic disturbances. Catatonia can accompany many different psychiatric illnesses and somatic diseases. In order to recognize the catatonic syndrome, apart from thorough and repeated observation, a clinical examination is needed. A screening instrument, such as the Bush-Francis Catatonia Rating Scale, can guide the clinician through the neuropsychiatric examination. Although severe and life-threatening, catatonia has a good prognosis. Research on the treatment of catatonia is scarce, but there is overwhelming clinical evidence of the efficacy of benzodiazepines, such as lorazepam, and electroconvulsive therapy.

Keywords: benzodiazepines; catatonia; electroconvulsive therapy; glutamate antagonists; transcranial magnetic stimulation; zolpidem.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Pommepuy N, Januel D. [Catatonia: resurgence of a concept. A review of the international literature]. Encephale (2002) 28(6 Pt 1):481–92. - PubMed
    1. Francis A, Fink M, Appiani F, Bertelsen A, Bolwig TG, Braunig P, et al. Catatonia in diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fifth edition. J ECT (2010) 26(4):246–7 10.1097/YCT.0b013e3181fe28bd - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abrams R, Taylor MA. Catatonia: a prospective clinical study. Arch Gen Psychiatry (1976) 33(5):579–81. 10.1001/archpsyc.1976.01770050043006 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rosebush PI, Mazurek MF. Catatonia and its treatment. Schizophr Bull (2010) 36(2):239–42 10.1093/schbul/sbp141 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fontenelle LF, Lauterbach EC, Telles LL, Versiani M, Porto FH, Mendlowicz MV. Catatonia in obsessive-compulsive disorder: etiopathogenesis, differential diagnosis, and clinical management. Cogn Behav Neurol (2007) 20(1):21–4. 10.1097/WNN.0b013e31802e3bc6 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources