Objective: To describe a patient with prodromal dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) manifesting as sertraline-induced parkinsonism.
Design: Case report.
Setting: Tertiary referral center.
Patient: A 75-year-old man who initially presented with anxiety and depression along with mild cognitive impairment, later developed drug-induced parkinsonism because of sertraline treatment, and eventually showed symptoms and signs of probable DLB.
Interventions: Sertraline treatment for depression.
Main outcome measures: : Clinical examination, magnetic resonance imaging, neuropsychologic test, and cardiac I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy.
Results: His parkinsonian symptoms, which became apparent after sertraline therapy, improved markedly after the discontinuation of the drug. When he started taking sertraline, he had no dementia but had mild cognitive impairment. However, he eventually showed most of the symptoms and signs to indicate probable DLB.
Conclusions: To our knowledge, there has been no report of sertraline-induced or aggravated parkinsonian motor symptoms in DLB patients. Our patient had a short period with neither dementia nor parkinsonism during the early stage of his illness, and this period might have been regarded as the preclinical stage of DLB in the natural course of his illness.