Challenges of treating catatonia in the community setting without access to electroconvulsive therapy.

Catatonia is a psychomotor syndrome resulting from an underlying psychiatric or medical disorder commonly observed in inpatient psychiatric units. While benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are effective treatment options, the unavailability of ECT in many community psychiatric hospitals in the United States negatively affects patient outcomes. We present a 25-year-old African American male with a psychiatric diagnosis of schizophrenia complicated by malignant catatonia who was admitted to a community psychiatric hospital. He required intensive medical stabilization with supportive management, and transfer requests to ECT-equipped hospitals were initiated. While awaiting transfer for 148 days, the patient's symptoms did not fully remit with lorazepam (even with 36 mg daily in divided doses) and other psychotropic medication trials, including antipsychotics and mood stabilizers. After nearly 5 months of inpatient stay, he was successfully transferred, received ECT treatment, and experienced rapid resolution of catatonia. After discharge, to obtain three monthly sessions of maintenance ECT, he had 5-h one-way ground transportation arranged to an out-of-county ECT-equipped facility. There was no relapse in catatonia by the 2-year follow-up. This report highlights a significant healthcare disparity when attempting to manage severe catatonia within community hospital settings without access to ECT in the United States. Alternative treatments, including antipsychotics, had minimal impact on symptoms and possibly increased morbidity in this case while awaiting ECT. Treatment at our designated safety net hospital still required referral to 14 ECT-equipped hospitals before successful transfer. This case highlights the urgent need for ECT availability in more community hospitals to treat patients with refractory psychiatric conditions, including catatonia. ECT is an essential psychiatric treatment that, for certain conditions, has no appropriate alternatives. We propose that access to ECT be considered in the determination of safety net hospital systems, with improved ability to transfer patients who are suffering from treatable life-threatening mental health conditions.

Challenges of Treating Catatonia without Access to Electroconvulsive Therapy Catatonia is a complex psychiatric condition characterized by abnormal movements, behaviors, and withdrawal from regular activities. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and benzodiazepines are first-line treatments for catatonia. However, ECT is not widely available, particularly in community mental health centers. We present a case of benzodiazepine-resistant catatonia that was initially treated at a community hospital that did not have access to ECT. We made a substantial number of referrals to ECT-equipped hospitals to transfer the patient; however, he was not able to be transferred until hospital day 148. The patient received ECT and experienced rapid resolution of symptoms. This report highlights a significant healthcare disparity when attempting to manage catatonia within community hospital settings without access to ECT in the United States. ECT is an essential psychiatric treatment that, for certain conditions, has no appropriate alternatives. We propose that access to ECT be considered in the determination of safety net hospital systems, with improved ability to transfer patients who are suffering from treatable life-threatening mental health conditions.

Presence of kratom in opioid overdose deaths: findings from coroner postmortem toxicological report.

Background: Kratom (Mitragyna speciosa) use in the United States is becoming increasingly popular and its legal status varies widely from state to state. Multiple reports of adverse events associated with kratom use have ranged from liver injury, seizures, psychiatric disturbance, and rarely death. Methods: This study investigated coroner autopsy reports from Kern County in California for the year 2020 which included qualitative data on substances from blood toxicological reports. Of the 214 opioid-associated accidental overdoses reported, 4 subjects (1.9%) had mitragynine (kratom) exposure on the autopsy report and were included in the study. We reported available demographic information and comorbid substance findings from the associated autopsy reports. Results: All 4 individuals with mitragynine (kratom) toxicology had accidental opioid overdose deaths noted in autopsy reports. Each subject also had toxicology positive for at least one other substance. Fentanyl was found in 3 (75%) of the cases and suspected to be the primary contributor to opioid-related deaths in those cases. However, one fatality was without fentanyl, but instead had tested positive for benzodiazepines, cannabis, and other psychiatric medications. Discussion: The findings of this brief report provide insight into the role that mitragynine (kratom) may have in modulating risk of opioid-related deaths. The combined use of kratom with opioids such as fentanyl appears most likely to increase the risk of a fatal overdose, but it may also occur with other medications such as benzodiazepines and psychiatric medications. It is a serious concern that in the midst of the opioid overdose epidemic there is a growing presence of kratom use in the U.S. population with a largely unregulated status.

Suspected Aripiprazole-induced neutropenia in a geriatric patient: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Aripiprazole, a third-generation antipsychotic medication, has been used to treat a range of psychiatric disorders. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's prescribing information, the most common adverse reactions in adult patients in clinical trials (≥10%) were nausea, vomiting, constipation, headache, dizziness, akathisia, anxiety, and insomnia. While hematological adverse effects may occur with aripiprazole, there is very limited information in the published literature on such adverse outcomes. CASE PRESENTATION: A 68-year-old Caucasian male with treatment resistant depression was hospitalized for suicidal ideation. The patient developed neutropenia after aripiprazole was introduced as an augmentation agent. The neutropenia was reversible with discontinuation of the medication. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, we describe the first case report of suspected neutropenia-induced by aripiprazole use in a geriatric patient. While hematological adverse reactions are rare, we recommend adding CBC to the standard adverse systemic reaction monitoring of antipsychotic medications, particularly among the elderly.