[Myoclonal encephalopathy due to dopamine]

Onset of confusion with myoclonus occurred in a 55-year-old patient hospitalized for infectious endocarditis and under intravenous dopamine. The speculative responsibility of dopamine in the occurrence of this myoclonic encephalopathy is discussed. Indeed, although dopamine does not cross the blood-brain barrier, inflammation of the wall of the cerebral vessels (immunologic vasculitis) may have enabled dopamine to reach the central nervous system.