Infantile chorea following abrupt withdrawal of diazepam and pentobarbital therapy

Abstract

The acute onset of chorea was seen in a ten week-old male following abrupt cessation of a seven-day course of sedation with diazepam and pentobarbital. These movements slowly resolved over a six-day period and the infant was without neurologic sequelae one week after his chorea resolved. A cerebral MRI was normal. We speculate that the mechanism by which chorea may occur as a withdrawal phenomenon to benzodiazepine/barbiturate treatment is by a functional overactivity of the dopamergic system in the basal ganglia.

KEY WORDS:

• chorea
• infantile
• barbiturates
• benzodiazepines
• substance withdrawal syndrome