SUDDEN-DEATH, NEUROLEPTICS AND PSYCHOTIC AGITATION

1. The concept of ''neuroleptic death'' as a phenomenologically va lid entity is still in controversy. The present paper describes 13 cases of sudden, unexpected and unexplained deaths among psychiatric inpatie nts that might be attribute to neuroleptic treatment. 2. This number r epresents 7% of the death in three regional psychiatric institutions, during the last decade. All of them manifest a uniform clinical profil e: young schizophrenic patients, healthy otherwise, whose post mortem examination failed to reveal the cause of death. Shortly prior to deat h, all of them suffered from a state of extreme psychotic agitation wh ich did not respond to high dose regime of neuroleptic drugs. 3. The a uthors suggest that this, common clinical pattern, typical of those pa tients, which ends by sudden death, is due to sudden neuroleptic death . The authors recommend that in cases of treating resistant pychotic e xacerbation, one should seriously consider the when Increasing doses o f neuroleptics or using unusual combinations of these drugs.