HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

Figures Only for this Article Full Text of this Article Reprint (PDF) Version of this Article CME: Take the quiz for this article Citation Map Email this article to a friend Correspondence: Submit a response to this article Published Correspondence for this article Similar articles found in: Neurology Online PubMed PubMed Citation This Article has been cited by: other online articles Search PubMed for articles by: Singhal, A. B. || Koroshetz, W. J. Alert me when: new articles cite this article Download to Citation Manager

Collections under which this article appears: Infarction Stroke in young adults

Cerebral vasoconstriction and stroke after use of serotonergic drugs

From the Departments of Neurology (Drs. Singhal, Caviness, Begleiter, Rordorf, and Koroshetz) and Pathology (Dr. Mark), Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. A.B. Singhal, Stroke Service, VBK-802, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114; e-mail: asinghal@partners.org

Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) is a potent vasoconstrictor amine. The authors report three patients who developed thunderclap headache, reversible cerebral arterial vasoconstriction, and ischemic strokes (i.e., the Call–Fleming syndrome). The only cause for vasoconstriction was recent exposure to serotonergic drugs in all patients, and to pseudoephedrine in one patient. These cases, and the literature, suggest that the use of serotonin-enhancing drugs can precipitate a cerebrovascular syndrome due to reversible, multifocal arterial narrowing.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L. Cambj-Sapunar, M. Yu, D. R. Harder, and R. J. Roman Contribution of 5-Hydroxytryptamine1B Receptors and 20-Hydroxyeiscosatetraenoic Acid to Fall in Cerebral Blood Flow After Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Stroke, May 1, 2003; 34(5): 1269 - 1275. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. J. Gilbert, D. J. Petro, and A. B. Singhal Cerebral vasoconstriction and stroke after use of serotonergic drugs Neurology, August 27, 2002; 59(4): 651 - 652. [Full Text] [PDF]

				A B Singhal and D W Dodick Thunderclap headache, reversible cerebral arterial vasoconstriction, and unruptured aneurysms J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, July 1, 2002; 73(1): 96 - 96. [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Rosack Rare Neurologic Syndrome Linked to Antidepressants Psychiatr. News, March 15, 2002; 37(6): 31 - 31. [Full Text]

Correspondence:

Read all Correspondence

Serotonergic drugs and stroke

Denis J Petro, et al.

Neurology Online, 1 Apr 2002 [Full text]

Re: Serotonergic drugs and stroke

Aneesh B. Singhal

Neurology Online, 9 Apr 2002 [Full text]

Cerebral vasoconstriction and stroke after use of serotonergic drugs

Gordon J Gilbert

Neurology Online, 26 Apr 2002 [Full text]

Reply to Letter to the Editor

Aneesh Singhal

Neurology Online, 26 Apr 2002 [Full text]