Open AccessGarbled speech: a rare presentation of metronidazole-induced neurotoxicity
Author(s) -
Muhammad Arslan Cheema,
Fnu Salman,
Waqas Ullah,
Muhammad Abdullah Zain
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
bmj case reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.231
H-Index - 26
ISSN - 1757-790X
DOI - 10.1136/bcr-2018-227804
Subject(s) - splenium , metronidazole , neurotoxicity , medicine , corpus callosum , presentation (obstetrics) , magnetic resonance imaging , radiology , pathology , antibiotics , toxicity , diffusion mri , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
Neurotoxicity is a rare but significant side effect of metronidazole. We present, here, a case of a 34-year-old man, presenting with garbled speech and word finding difficulty. He was taking metronidazole for the last 3 months for stage 4 decubitus ulcers. MRI of the brain showed abnormal signal intensities in the splenium of the corpus callosum and dentate nuclei of the cerebellum. The diagnosis of metronidazole-induced neurotoxicity was made based on MRI findings. The antibiotic was stopped leading to resolution of abnormal MRI findings. We advocate that metronidazole can be associated with severe neurotoxicity, but its prompt cessation leads to better outcome and prognosis.