Abstract
Catatonia is a life-threatening stuporous state that can be associated with various neurologic, medical, and psychiatric disorders (1). Although there have been several case reports of catatonia in children and adolescents, little is known about effective treatments for this syndrome. In 1997, Dhossche and Bouman (2,3) reviewed the literature and found 30 cases of childhood or adolescent catatonia. We found two additional cases of catatonia in adolescents, one treated successfully with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and lorazepam (4) and the other with zolpidem (5). Although olanzapine, an atypical antipsychotic, has been used to treat children and adolescents (6,7), to our knowledge there have been no reported cases using it in the treatment of catatonia. We report a case of a 16-year-old boy successfully treated for catatonia using lorazepam, valproic acid, and olanzapine; review the literature on the treatment of catatonia in adolescents; and discuss therapeutic issues. Case Report
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