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Previous Volume 336:589-590 February 20, 1997 Number 8 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: We report two cases of a progressive spongiform leukoencephalopathy that, to our knowledge, has not been reported previously in the United States. The disease occurred after the patients inhaled heated heroin vapor, a practice known as "chasing the dragon."

In Patient 1, a 21-year-old woman with a six-month history of inhaling heroin vapor, progressive bradykinesia, ataxia, and slurred speech developed over a two-week period. She denied using intravenous drugs. On admission she had abulia. She followed simple, one-step commands, but there was a long period of latency before she initiated movements, which were slow and ataxic. She . . . [Full Text of this Article]

References

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Hill, M. D., Cooper, P. W., Perry, J. R. (2000). Chasing the dragon - neurological toxicity associated with inhalation of heroin vapour: case report. CMAJ 162: 236-238 [Full Text]  
• Kriegstein, A. R., Shungu, D. C., Millar, W. S., Armitage, B. A., Brust, J. C., Chillrud, S., Goldman, J., Lynch, T. (1999). Leukoencephalopathy and raised brain lactate from heroin vapor inhalation ("chasing the dragon"). Neurology 53: 1765-1765 [Abstract] [Full Text]