UNASSIGNED: Nocturnal eating behavior in patients with sleep-related eating disorder (SRED) is difficult to control and can become chronic, causing weight gain and psychological distress. Here, we report a case of SRED comorbid with major depressive disorder successfully treated by switching from brotizolam to suvorexant, that is, from a benzodiazepine to an orexin receptor antagonist.
UNASSIGNED: A 25-year-old woman complained of night snacking with partial/complete amnesia and sleepwalking for 1 year. She had a diagnosis of major depressive disorder at age 20 and was on paroxetine and brotizolam for depression and insomnia. At 24 years of age, she experienced her second depressive episode, then her amnestic nocturnal eating became prominent. Even after improvement in depressive symptoms, she experienced uncontrollable nocturnal eating episodes every 2 days, resulting in weight gain of over 10 kg. After a partial amnestic eating episode following an awakening from stage N2 sleep was confirmed through video polysomnography, she was diagnosed with SRED. Considering her strong desire to resolve involuntary eating, we instructed her to discontinue brotizolam and start suvorexant. Subsequently, her nocturnal eating completely disappeared. She experienced rebound insomnia, which improved within 1 month. She was then continued on 10 mg of suvorexant and has not experienced nocturnal eating for 2 years.
UNASSIGNED: This case highlights the importance of discontinuing benzodiazepines in the treatment of SRED, but also suggests the potential benefit of orexin receptor antagonists in the treatment of SRED. The efficacy of orexin receptor antagonists in idiopathic SRED should be tested in future studies.

BACKGROUND: Remimazolam is a recently developed, ultrashort-acting benzodiazepine that is used as a general anesthetic. Some cases of remimazolam anaphylaxis have been reported, but its characteristics are not fully understood. We present an interesting case report and review of the literature to better understand remimazolam anaphylaxis.
METHODS: A 75-year-old man scheduled for robot-assisted gastrectomy was administered remimazolam for the induction of general anesthesia. After intubation, low end-expiratory CO2, high airway pressure and concurrent circulatory collapse were observed. Bronchoscopy revealed marked tracheal and bronchial edema, which we diagnosed as anaphylaxis. The patient suffered cardiac arrest after bronchoscopy but recovered immediately with intravenous adrenaline administration and chest compressions. We performed skin prick tests for the drugs used during induction except for remimazolam, considering the high risk of systemic adverse reactions to remimazolam. We diagnosed remimazolam anaphylaxis because the skin prick test results for the other drugs used during anesthesia were negative, and these drugs could have been used without allergic reactions during the subsequent surgery. Furthermore, this patient had experienced severe anaphylactic-like reactions when he underwent cardiac surgery a year earlier, in which midazolam had been used, but it was not thought to be the allergen at that time. Based on these findings, cross-reactivity to remimazolam and midazolam was suspected. However, the patient had previously received another benzodiazepine, brotizolam, to which he was not allergic, suggesting that cross-reactivity of remimazolam may vary among benzodiazepines. In this article, we reviewed the 11 cases of remimazolam anaphylaxis that have been described in the literature.
CONCLUSIONS: Remimazolam is an ultrashort-acting sedative; however, it can cause life-threatening anaphylaxis. In addition, its cross-reactivity with other benzodiazepines is not fully understood. To increase the safety of this drug, further research and more experience in its use are needed.

UNASSIGNED: Catatonia is a syndrome characterized by psychomotor and behavioral disturbances and is associated with a substantially increased mortality risk in adolescent patients. There is a dearth of published literature describing treatment strategies for pediatric patients with catatonia. This dual-case series will describe the treatment course of 2 adolescent patients with catatonia at our pediatric inpatient psychiatric facility.
UNASSIGNED: This case series presents 2 adolescent patients (a 17-year-old male and a 16-year-old female) who initially presented with worsening agitation and paranoia, later developing catatonia. Both patients required long durations of hospitalization and were treated with high-dose lorazepam before requiring the addition of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
UNASSIGNED: Treatment of pediatric patients with catatonia creates a significant burden on patients, families, and the healthcare system. Treatment with high-dose benzodiazepines is high risk, while ECT is both difficult to access and comes with its own risks. Both patients discussed are transitional age, meaning they will soon be young adults who will continue to require high-level psychiatric care. Psychiatric pharmacists have a large role to play in ensuring safe medication management for these complex patients.
UNASSIGNED: This case series of 2 adolescent patients with catatonia demonstrates marginal reduction in symptoms with high-dose lorazepam in conjunction with ECT, with minimal side effects. This case series adds to the limited available literature regarding treatment of catatonia in pediatric patients and highlights the need for further study into effective treatment alternatives.

BACKGROUND: Previous reports have described hiccups during general anesthesia that were possibly induced by drugs, including benzodiazepines. However, there are few reports of hiccups caused by remimazolam. Case presentation A 75-year-old woman underwent corneal transplantation under general anesthesia with remimazolam. She presented with hiccups once the effects of muscle relaxants used during induction wore off, which persisted even after various treatments, such as the administration of antipsychotic drugs. However, when remimazolam administration was terminated after surgery to awaken the patient, the hiccups stopped and did not recur after extubation. Evaluation of predicted blood levels of remimazolam suggests that higher levels of remimazolam might cause hiccups.
CONCLUSIONS: Remimazolam might induce hiccups during general anesthesia. Anesthesiologists should consider administering muscle relaxants or changing the anesthetic in cases of refractory hiccups under general anesthesia.

Objective: We report a neuropsychological evaluation for a 39-year-old, right-handed, white female who 8 years ago developed delayed post-hypoxic leukoencephalopathy (DPHL), a rare demyelinating syndrome, two-weeks following an anoxic brain injury due to an overdose from benzodiazepines. Methods: An extensive record review documenting her medical timeline and treatment over the last 8 years was conducted using the available EMR system, which also included both EEG and neuroimaging data. Eight years post injury, a comprehensive neuropsychological battery was administered with corrected normative data for age, race, education, and other demographic factors when available. Collected data was compared with other case reports of DPHL. Results: The neuropsychological profile indicated difficulties across multiple cognitive domains that appeared driven by executive dysfunction, likely related to fronto-subcorto-striatal dysfunction. Conclusion: As a rare disease, the process by which DPHL occurs is not fully understood. Our results revealed similar findings in the literature for learning and memory, attention, processing speed, and executive functions. This is discussed in the context of available neuroimaging while highlighting the value of comprehensive neuropsychological assessment in DPHL even years post-injury.

Benzodiazepines and zolpidem are commonly used in suicide attempts. They have previously been thought to have very few side effects outside of central nervous system depression, and are considered relatively safe even in overdoses. Cardiovascular manifestations of these overdoses are exceedingly rare. We depict a case where an unknown woman appearing to be in her 50s presented to our emergency department somnolent after a large ingestion of alprazolam, clonazepam, and zolpidem. During the evaluation, the patient became bradycardic to 35 beats per minute on the monitor, which responded to atropine administration. Therefore, it is important for an emergency medicine provider to be aware that both benzodiazepine and zolpidem overdoses can cause profound sinus bradycardia, which can respond to atropine.

BACKGROUND: Z-hypnotics or z-drugs are commonly prescribed for insomnia and sleep difficulties in older adults. These drugs are associated with adverse events and dependence and are not recommended for long-term use. Despite evidence of older adults being more sensitive to a wide array of adverse events and clinical guidelines advocating limiting use, inappropriate use in this population is still prevalent. Previous intervention studies have focused mainly on prescriber information. Simple, individually focused intervention designs are less studied. Brief intervention (BI) is a simple, easily transferable method mainly used to treat patients at risk of alcohol overuse.
OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to design and test the feasibility and acceptability of a BI intervention adapted to address individual, inappropriate use of z-hypnotics among older adults. This preparatory study aimed to optimize the intervention in advance of a quantitative randomized controlled trial investigating the treatment effect in a larger population.
METHODS: This feasibility case series was conducted at Akershus University Hospital, Norway, in autumn 2021. We included 5 adults aged ≥65 years with long-term (≥4 weeks) use of z-hypnotics and 2 intervening physicians. Additionally, 2 study investigators contributed with process evaluation notes. The BI consists of information on the risk of inappropriate use and individualized advice on how to reduce use. The focus of the intervention is behavioral and aims, in cooperation with the patient and based on shared decision-making, to change patient behavior regarding sleep medication rather than physician-based detoxification and termination of z-hypnotic prescriptions. Qualitative and descriptive quantitative data were collected from intervening physicians, study investigators, and participants at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and at the 6-week follow-up.
RESULTS: Data were obtained from 2 physicians, 2 study investigators, and 5 participants (4 women) with a median age of 84 years. The average time spent on the BI consultation was 15 minutes. All 5 participants completed the intervention without problems. The participants and 2 intervening physicians reported the intervention as acceptable and were satisfied with the delivery of the intervention. After the intervention, 2 participants stopped their use of z-hypnotics completely and participated in the follow-up interview. Study investigators identified logistical challenges regarding location and time requirements. Identified aspects that may improve the intervention and reduce dropouts included revising the intervention content, focusing on rebound insomnia, adding an information leaflet, and supporting the patient in the period between the intervention and follow-up. The notion that the intervention should best be located and conducted by the patient\'s own general practitioner was supported by the participants.
CONCLUSIONS: We identified important aspects to improve the designed intervention and found that the BI is feasible and acceptable for incorporation into a larger randomized trial investigating the treatment effect of BI for reducing z-hypnotic use by older adults.
BACKGROUND: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03162081; http://tinyurl.com/rmzx6brn.

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BACKGROUND: A work accident constitutes a shock to health, likely to alter mental states and affect the use of psychotropic drugs. We focus on the use of benzodiazepines, which are a class of drugs commonly used to treat anxiety and insomnia. Prolonged use can lead to dependence. Our objective is to determine the extent to which work accidents lead to benzodiazepine use and overuse (i.e. exceedance of medical guidelines).
METHODS: We use a two-step selection model (the Heckman method) based on data from the French National Health Data System (Système National des Données de Santé, SNDS). Our study sample includes all general plan members who experienced a single work accident in 2016 (and not since 2007). This sample includes 350,000 individuals in the work accident group and more than 1.1 million people randomly drawn from the population without work accidents from 2007 to 2017 (the non-work accident group).
RESULTS: The occurrence of a work accident leads to an increase in benzodiazepine use and overuse the following year. The selection model shows a clear influence of the accident on the use probability (+ 39%), but a very slight impact on the risk of overuse among users (+ 1.7%), once considered the selection effect. The effect on overuse risk is higher for more severe accidents and among women.
CONCLUSIONS: The increase in the risk of benzodiazepine overuse is due to an increase in the likelihood of using benzodiazepines after a work accident that leads to overuse, rather than an increase in likelihood of overuse among people who use benzodiazepines. Results call for targeting the first-time prescription to limit the risk of overuse after a work accident.

Remimazolam is a novel benzodiazepine with sedative and amnestic properties similar to midazolam. Ester metabolism results in a half-life of 5 - 10 min and a limited context sensitive half-life. We present preliminary retrospective experience with its use as a primary agent for procedural sedation for brief invasive and noninvasive procedures. The study cohort included seven patients, ranging in age from 14 to 51 years. Remimazolam administration included bolus dosing in two patients and a combination of bolus dosing followed by an infusion in the other five patients. The initial bolus dose of remimazolam ranged from 2.5 to 5 mg. Starting doses for the infusion ranged from 10 to 30 µg/kg/min with titration of the continuous infusion during the procedure, ranging from 10 - 30 µg/kg/min. Median dose infusion requirements were 15 - 20 µg/kg/min. One procedure was completed with remimazolam as the sole anesthetic agent while the other six patients received adjunctive agents. Changes in blood pressure or oxygen saturation were noted which resolved with minimal interventions such as a decrease in remimazolam infusion rate or an increase in supplemental oxygen administration. Our anecdotal experience provides further support for the efficacy of remimazolam as an agent for procedural sedation.