chiniofon and Amnesia

Twelve cases of confusional state after normal or excessive doses of clioquinol are discussed. They resemble transient global amnesia (TGA) of the classic type, but the episodes last longer (1-3 days), they are often accompanied by a variety of mental disturbances, and the onset and end are less well defined than in the classic type. A combination of SMON and acute encephalopathy due to clioquinol was observed in only one case. Apart from amnesia for the acute episode a permanent retrograde amnesia for a few days up to two months was left behind. The pathophysiology of these episodes is not clear, but they resemble the toxic reactions to clioquinol observed in dogs and experimental animals.

Topics: Acute Disease; Adult; Aged; Amnesia; Amnesia, Retrograde; Brain Diseases; Clioquinol; Confusion; Female; Humans; Hydroxyquinolines; Male; Middle Aged

Twelve cases have been reported in the literature to have developed acute, largely reversible, global amnesic syndromes some hours after ingesting substantial doses of clioquinol. Two of these cases presented again after asymptomatic intervals of some 12 years. Both had recently developed typical clinical and electroencephalographic evidence of partial epilepsy originating in a temporal lobe. The similarity of clinical events in these two subjects, the absence of any other known cause for their epilepsy and the fact that, in mice, acute clioquinol overdosage causes hippocampal and amygdaloid injury, suggest that the drug was responsible for both the acute encephalopathy and the epilepsy of delayed onset.

Topics: Acute Disease; Adult; Amnesia; Clioquinol; Electroencephalography; Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; Female; Humans; Hydroxyquinolines; Male; Substance-Related Disorders

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Amnesia; Amnesia, Retrograde; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Hydroxyquinolines; Male; Middle Aged; Myelitis; Optic Neuritis; Sweden; Syndrome