A neuropsychiatric case of delayed post-hypoxic leukoencephalopathy from opioid intoxication resulting in Anton-Babinski syndrome and quadriplegia

ABSTRACT

This is the case of a 26-year-old male who developed Anton Babinski syndrome (ABS), quadriplegia, and delayed post-hypoxic leukoencephalopathy (DPHL) after an opioid overdose. He exhibited cortical blindness, visual anosognosia, and confabulation upon awakening. Several days later, he experienced acute psychosis and agitation. T2-FSE MRI revealed extensive supratentorial leukoencephalopathy involving both cerebral hemispheres, extending to the posterior corpus callosum due to cerebral anoxia. This case report will discuss different types of encephalopathy from opioid abuse, ABS, visual anosognosia, and confabulation’s pathogenic mechanisms. It underscores the necessity of researching substance-induced neuropsychiatric disorders and their pathogenic mechanisms for effective treatments.

KEYWORDS:

• Anton-Babinski syndrome
• leukoencephalopathy
• opioid intoxication
• delayed Post-hypoxic leukoencephalopathy
• cortical blindness

Acknowledgements

We confirm that this work is original and has not been published elsewhere, nor is it currently under consideration for publication. The abstract was published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, as we presented this case as a poster at the 2022 American Neuropsychiatric Association Meeting (https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.neuropsych.20223401).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (R. Cardona) upon reasonable request. However, due to the nature of this clinical case report, some data regarding personal information from the patient supporting data is unavailable due to ethical and legal reasons.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received for this study. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.