Hallucinations are common in neurodegenerative dementias, being present in a significant proportion of patients. Most of the available studies show that acetylcholinesterase inhibitors may be beneficial in preventing and treating hallucinations in patients with neurodegenerative and even psychiatric disorders, even though there are reports that they might also develop as an adverse effect of such therapy. However, a clear causal relationship for the latter association was not previously established. Here we describe 2 cases of patients treated with donepezil who developed complex multimodal hallucinations, which could be causally linked to the drug by means of a challenge-dechallenge (and rechallenge in one case) paradigm. We also provide a narrative review of the literature regarding donepezil and hallucinations and propose a hypothesis to explain the occurrence of this phenomenon.

Pozzi, F., Tremolizzo, L., Ferrarese, C., Appollonio, I. (2022). Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the Literature. CASE REPORTS IN NEUROLOGY, 14(3), 359-365 [10.1159/000526159].

Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the Literature

Pozzi, Federico Emanuele
;
Tremolizzo, Lucio;Ferrarese, Carlo;Appollonio, Ildebrando
2022

Abstract

Hallucinations are common in neurodegenerative dementias, being present in a significant proportion of patients. Most of the available studies show that acetylcholinesterase inhibitors may be beneficial in preventing and treating hallucinations in patients with neurodegenerative and even psychiatric disorders, even though there are reports that they might also develop as an adverse effect of such therapy. However, a clear causal relationship for the latter association was not previously established. Here we describe 2 cases of patients treated with donepezil who developed complex multimodal hallucinations, which could be causally linked to the drug by means of a challenge-dechallenge (and rechallenge in one case) paradigm. We also provide a narrative review of the literature regarding donepezil and hallucinations and propose a hypothesis to explain the occurrence of this phenomenon.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
Adverse events; Alzheimer's disease; Donepezil; Hallucinations;
English
2022
14
3
359
365
open
Pozzi, F., Tremolizzo, L., Ferrarese, C., Appollonio, I. (2022). Donepezil-Induced Complex Multimodal Hallucinations: Two Cases and a Review of the Literature. CASE REPORTS IN NEUROLOGY, 14(3), 359-365 [10.1159/000526159].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/404536
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