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Previous Volume 352:1112-1120 March 17, 2005 Number 11 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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The serotonin syndrome is a potentially life-threatening adverse drug reaction that results from therapeutic drug use, intentional self-poisoning, or inadvertent interactions between drugs. Three features of the serotonin syndrome are critical to an understanding of the disorder. First, the serotonin syndrome is not an idiopathic drug reaction; it is a predictable consequence of excess serotonergic agonism of central nervous system (CNS) receptors and peripheral serotonergic receptors.^1,2 Second, excess serotonin produces a spectrum of clinical findings.³ Third, clinical manifestations of the serotonin syndrome range from barely perceptible to lethal. The death of an 18-year-old patient named Libby Zion in New York . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Definition and Epidemiology

Manifestations

Pathophysiology and Molecular Mechanisms

Diagnosis

Management

Prevention

Source Information

From the Division of Medical Toxicology, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Massachusetts, Worcester (E.W.B.); and the Program in Medical Toxicology, Division of Emergency Medicine, Children's Hospital, Boston (E.W.B., M.S.).

Address reprint requests to Dr. Boyer at IC Smith Bldg., Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, or at edward.boyer@tch.harvard.edu.

Related Letters:

The Serotonin Syndrome
Basu D., Gillman P. K., Gnanadesigan N., Espinoza R. T., Smith R. L., Claassen J. A.H.R., Gelissen H. P.M.M., Boyer E. W., Shannon M.
Extract | Full Text | PDF  
N Engl J Med 2005; 352:2454-2456, Jun 9, 2005. Correspondence

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