2003 Apr; 18 (2): 299- 300

Flumazenil-induced Ballism

Joong Seok Kim, Seok Bum Ko, Yeong Bin Choi, Kwang Soo Lee

Department of Neurology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. ks1007@cmc.cuk.ac.kr

Flumazenil, an imidazobenzodiazepine, is the first benzodiazepine antagonist and is being used to reverse the adverse pharmacological effects of benzodiazepine. There have been a few reports on the central nevous system side effects with its use. We report a patient with generalized ballism following administration of flumazenil. The mechanism through which flumazenil induced this symptom is unknown. It is conceivable that flumazenil may antagonize the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor complex and induce dopamine hypersensitivity, thus induce dyskinesic symptoms.