[Neuroleptic malignant syndrome - unexpected complication in a COVID-19 patient].

Abstract

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome is a life-threatening condition that can be fatal if unrecognized and inadequately treated. This disease is rarely seen in infectious diseases wards. As infectiologists, however, we are confronted with an increasingly broader spectrum of diagnoses and this disease should therefore be considered in any patient taking psychiatric medication who develops the typical symptoms of hyperthermia, rigidity and muscle tremors, autonomic lability and impaired consciousness. A case report is presented of a young man with schizophrenia admitted to the intensive care unit with COVID-19, who was treated with antipsychotics (formerly known as neuroleptics) for restlessness and who developed neuroleptic malignant syndrome. In cooperation with psychiatrists, a targeted therapy was initiated, after which the symptoms subsided and the patient's clinical condition resolved.