The relationship of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors with Parkinson’s disease and parkinsonism: two case reports

In spite of the increasing number of case reports of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) induced Parkin-sonism symptoms; the underlying mechanism is not clearly established. Evidence of Parkinson’s disease (PD) symptoms prior to the treatment or a positive family history must be considered as predicting factors in the appearence as well as the prognosis of parkinsonism symptoms. In the first case presented, PD developed during paroxetine treatment in a patient, who had slowness of motion along with social withdrawal since her childhood. In our second case, parkinsonism symptoms developed with essitalopram within three months. While there are no reports of first presentation of PD with paroxetine, there is only one case to date that reported parkinsonism symptoms with essitalopram. In this paper, we aimed to present two cases and discuss the possible underlying mechanisms of the development of parkinsonism symptoms and PD associated with SSRIs. [Anadolu Psikiyatri Derg 2011; 12(4.000): 315-317]