[The carbamazepine hypersensitivity syndrome. Differential diagnosis and a representative case history]

In psychiatry the efficacy of the anticonvulsant carbamazepine in the prophylaxis of bipolar affective disorders is very known and so this drug has been used for a long time. But one very important and dangerous side effect of carbamazepine must be emphasized: the "carbamazepine-hypersensitivity-syndrome", which will be presented in this article in a representative example. The allergic reaction can be difficult in differential diagnostic aspects: the clinical symptoms of this reaction can be very similar to viral infections; in the histological view aspects of a lymphoma can even be found. Because of the systemic reactions there are dramatic and very serious courses. So the psychiatrist has to remember the dramatic side effects and must inform the patients about them in using carbamazepine.