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Dyskinesias Associated with Tricyclic Antidepressants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

William E. Fann ,
John L. Sullivan III  and
Bruce W. Richman
William E. Fann*
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine and Psychiatry Service, Veterans Administration Hospital, Houston, Texas
John L. Sullivan III
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
Bruce W. Richman
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Baylor College of Medicine and Psychiatry Service, Veterans Administration Hospital, Houston, Texas
*
Correspondence to be addressed to Dr William E. Fann, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77025.
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Summary

Hyperkinetic movement disorders may occur as side effects of antipsychotic drugs; and a hyperdopaminergic state induced by the neuroleptic compounds is thought to be a cause of extrapyramidal disorders such as tardive dyskinesia. We have observed two cases of the dyskinetic syndrome in patients receiving tricyclic antidepressants (TCA). Because the TCA are known to have little effect on striatal dopamine but do share with the neuroleptics potent anticholinergic activity, these cases appear to support the hypothesis that the drug-induced hyperkinetic disorders are related to a diminution of CNS acetylcholine activity as well as to an increase in dopamine activity.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 128 , Issue 5 , May 1976 , pp. 490 - 493
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1976 

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