Quinism Explained

Quinism should not be confused with Cinchonism.

Neuropsychiatric quinism is a chronic encephalopathy due to intoxication by mefloquine, quinacrine, chloroquine. It is associated with brain dysfunction and brainstem dysfunction. It may be confused as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). In the opinion of one medical author it "may have been widely unrecognized in veteran populations, and its symptoms misattributed to other causes."^[1] Symptoms include, but are not limited to, limbic encephalopathy and neurotoxic vestibulopathy.^[2]

Symptoms

This neuropsychiatric syndrome is defined by several symptoms that distinguish it from others:^[2]

Very high probability

• delirium
• confusion
• disorientation

Moderate probability

• dementia
• amnesia
• seizures

Prodromal

• anxiety
• depression
• sleep disturbance
• abnormal dreams
• dizziness
• vertigo
• paresthesias

Notes and References

1. Book: 10.1007/978-3-030-05384-0_20. Neuropsychiatric Quinism: Chronic Encephalopathy Caused by Poisoning by Mefloquine and Related Quinoline Drugs. Veteran Psychiatry in the US. 315–331. 2019. Nevin. Remington L.. 978-3-030-05383-3. 133193381 .
2. 10.1007/s40268-016-0167-3. Identification of a Syndrome Class of Neuropsychiatric Adverse Reactions to Mefloquine from Latent Class Modeling of FDA Adverse Event Reporting System Data. Drugs in R&D. 17. 199–210. 2017. Nevin. Remington L.. Leoutsakos. Jeannie-Marie. 1. 28063022. 5318335. free.