ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Seizures are common neurological emergencies in the elderly that are frequently provoked. Geriatrics have higher rates of neurological disorders and other comorbidities that could affect seizure threshold. CASE PRESENTATION: An 83-year-old male Arabic patient presented to the emergency department with an acute confusional state and urinary incontinence followed by a witnessed tonic-clonic seizure in the hospital. Thorough investigations and imaging were positive only for nonspecific magnetic resonant imaging findings with a negative electroencephalogram. The patient was diagnosed with provoked seizure due to over-the-counter cold medications that included pseudoephedrine and caffeine. He was not prescribed antiepileptic medications at discharge and did not develop subsequent seizures up to this date. CONCLUSION: Over-the-counter cough and cold medications with sympathomimetic ingredients can be associated with provoked seizures in the elderly. Physicians should be aware of the potentially serious adverse events associated with commonly used nonprescription sympathomimetics such as pseudoephedrine and caffeine in elderly patients.
Subject(s)
Cough , Pseudoephedrine , Male , Humans , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Cough/chemically induced , Pseudoephedrine/therapeutic use , Caffeine , Seizures/chemically induced , Seizures/drug therapy , Anticonvulsants/therapeutic useABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the global socioeconomic and healthcare infrastructure. Vaccines have been the cornerstone in limiting the global spread of the pandemic. However, the mass scale vaccination has resulted in some unanticipated adverse events. Arguably the most serious of these has been the development of widespread thrombosis with viral-vectored vaccines. We present a case of extensive thrombosis associated with the messenger RNA (m-RNA) vaccine.