Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry

Tardive dyskinesia(TD), Typically appearing as an undesirable side effect of a long term antipsychotic drug treatment has gained increased attention in recent times due to the discovery of many TD variants. This is a single case study of a patient who has undergone more than 8 years of high dosage antipsychotic treatment. After altering the type and dosage of antipsychotic medication 3 months prior ot visit, the patient showed relatively abrupt onset symptoms of severe tremor and dystonia. These symptoms, appearing in clear consciousess, got better to a certain degree after 48 hours, worsened for 12 hours, and then improved again. Subsequently there was no continuing movement disorder. Several tests and consultation were carried out. However except for the medication factor, no other possible causes for such disabling symptoms were found. This clinical condition was thought to be akin to tardive tremor, a variant of TD. Furthermore, the course was atypical.

Keywords Antipsychotics;Side effect;Tardive dyskinesia;Tardive tremor.