[A case of serotonin syndrome]

A minority of patients treated with serotonergic agents develop a fulminant and potentially life-threatening illness characterized by changes in mental status, restlessness, myoclonus, hyperreflexia, tremor, shivering, incoordination, hyperthermia, diaphoresis and diarrhea. This condition of serotonergic hyperstimulation is called the "serotonin syndrome". The author describes an adverse response in a patient given fluoxetine and lithium. A 61-year-old woman presented to casualty exhibits nearly all of the diagnostic criteria proposed by Sternbach [17].