Delirium From Transdermal Scopolamine in an Elderly Woman
- Renzo Rozzini, MD;
- Mariarosa Inzoli, MD;
- Marco Trabucchi, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
To the Editor.— Perhaps too little attention is paid by practitioners to central anticholinergic effects of drugs in the elderly.
Report of a Case.— Recently, a 77-year-old woman was hospitalized for sudden global loss of memory, disorientation, and clouded sensorium after a journey to a holiday resort. Clinical and diagnostic evaluation did not indicate any abnormality. The patient had no history of drug intake. She was released after two days owing to spontaneous remission of the symptoms.
The woman remained well for the remaining 15 days of her vacation, after which she went back home. On reaching her home, she experienced the same global disturbance of cognition as previously and again had to be hospitalized. Results of diagnostic evaluation were normal.
After a more detailed drug history was taken, however, it was found that the elderly woman had used a scopolamine transdermal preparation (retroauricular) to prevent car sickness on her
