A Case of Serotonin Syndrome Precipitated by Quetiapine in a Middle-Aged Female on Trazodone and Sertraline

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 14; no. 8
• Main Authors: Varma, Samyukta, Xavier, Sona, Desai, Saral, Ali, Syed
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palo Alto Cureus Inc 04-08-2022; Cureus
• Subjects: Antidepressants; Bipolar disorder; Blood pressure; Case reports; Dementia; Drug dosages; Drug overdose; Hyperactivity; Internal Medicine; Medical diagnosis; Metabolism; Middle age; Nervous system; Nursing homes; Pathophysiology; Patients; Prescription drugs; Psychiatry; Serotonin
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.27668

Serotonin syndrome (SS) is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by drugs that act on serotonergic receptors or alter serotonin metabolism. We present a case of SS in a middle-aged female who was taking trazodone and sertraline as her home medications and developed SS after being started on quetiapine during her hospital course. A 54-year-old female with a past medical history of dementia and bipolar disorder was brought to the emergency department from a nursing home for altered mental status. Delirium was ruled out. Initial blood work was significant for an elevated creatine phosphokinase (CPK) level of 753 U/L. She was started on Quetiapine 100 mg bis in die (BID) after admission as she had a history of bipolar disorder and she was having acute mood symptoms (impulsive, irritable, confrontational, belligerent, and unable to be redirected). On the second day of admission, the patient started having diaphoresis, tremors, hyperreflexia, myoclonus, and ocular clonus. A diagnosis of SS was made using Hunter’s criteria. All serotonergic medications were discontinued after which the patient started improving. She was also started on supportive therapy including IV fluids, lorazepam, and cyproheptadine. The patient was discharged on the fourth day of admission.