Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0027066 (myoclonus)
 4,275 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The collective clinical data support the concept that lorazepam is highly effective for a broad range of seizure types, with the major inadequacy being in myoclonus, a seizure type typically highly resistant to other anticonvulsants as well. In addition to its effectiveness, lorazepam appears to have two other major advantages; a prolonged duration of action, which makes frequent or continuous administration unnecessary, and a high degree of freedom from serious side effects involving either the respiratory or cardiovascular system. Although experience at this time is insufficient to allow a firm statement concerning effective concentrations, such concentrations appear readily achievable in most patients with injections of 4 to 5 mg. Lorazepam appears to meet all the requirements of an anticonvulsant useful for treatment of status epilepticus and should prove to be a major drug in the treatment of this condition.
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PMID:Clinical studies of lorazepam in status epilepticus. 613 87

The action of lorazepam was studied in photosensitive baboons. Animals were either naturally very photosensitive or rendered photosensitive by a previous injection of allylglycine. Intravenous administration of varying doses, from 0.05 to 0.5 mg/kg, of lorazepam blocked the myoclonus induced by intermittent light stimulation in all the animals. However, in the naturally photosensitive baboon the injection of lorazepam favoured the appearance of spontaneous myoclonus with no important EEG modification. This myoclonus is different from that induced by intermittent light stimulation, which is always preceded by spike-wave cortical discharges. Lorazepam-induced myoclonus appears during the period when the animal is not photosensitive and its origin is probably in the medulla or in the brain stem.
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PMID:Opposite effects of lorazepam on two kinds of myoclonus in the photosensitive Papio papio. 617 64

Lorazepam is being used with increasing frequency as a sedative in the newborn and the young infant. Concern has been raised with regard to the safety of lorazepam in this age group, especially in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW; < 1,500 g) infants. Three young infants, all of birth weight < 1,500 g, experienced myoclonus following the intravenous administration of lorazepam. The potential neurotoxic effects of the drug (and its vehicle) in this population are discussed. Injectable lorazepam should be used with caution in VLBW infants.
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PMID:Myoclonus associated with lorazepam therapy in very-low-birth-weight infants. 772 12