Extrapyramidal reactions. Neuropsychiatric mimics in patients with AIDS

The use of neuroleptic medication as antiemetics, or in the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders in patients with AIDS, may be associated with extrapyramidal side effects and lead to difficulty with diagnosis and management. Two cases are presented that describe severe extrapyramidal syndromes occurring in two patients with AIDS, one treated with prochlorperazine and the other with prochlorperazine and metoclopropramide. It is possible that the neuropathologic lesions found in patients with the AIDS dementia complex may pre-dispose to extrapyramidal side effects of neuroleptic medication. The differential diagnosis and treatment of delirium, dementia, depression, and extrapyramidal reactions in patients with AIDS is discussed.