Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and Related Conditions

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) and other hyperthermic conditions are rare complications of antipsychotic drugs that can cause discomfort, disability, and even death. As a result, every psychiatrist, physician, and mental health care professional needs to be able to spot warning signs of NMS and to administer treatment in time to prevent a fatal outcome. Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and Related Conditions is an important tool for clinicians, outlining a framework for understanding, diagnosing, treating, and preventing these little-understood and often overlapping disorders. This new second edition extensively updates and revises the first edition, integrating an explosion of new findings that have occurred since the earlier edition was published in 1989.

A new chapter on serotonin syndrome is particularly important, given the rise in use of serotonergic drugs such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). It is the first comprehensive review of this condition to appear in the world literature.

Other chapters focus on related conditions such as antipsychotic drug–related heatstroke, hyperthermia associated with other neuropsychiatric drugs, and malignant catatonia. The heatstroke chapter contains a detailed consideration of thermoregulatory mechanisms, the disruption of which could underlie the pathogenesis of all these conditions.

Written by four internationally renowned authorities on NMS, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and Related Conditions will equip clinicians with a practical approach based on the most current science. In addition, this balanced monograph will stimulate research, with coverage of controversies and unanswered questions to provide direction for future study.